Lost In Time
by QueenNaberrie
Summary: Return to the Light Sequel. Luke, Leia, Chewie & Lando just escaped from Bespin & fall into a time warp, sending them to the future, 3 yrs after RTTL ends. They get in trouble with Tusken Raiders on Tatooine. Vacationing Anakin & Luke come to the rescue
1. Chapter 1

**A Star Wars Fanfiction**

_Disclaimer: All Star Wars characters belong to George Lucas. This story was written for my enjoyment and, hopefully, for the enjoyment of other Star Wars fans who will read it. And I, in no way, am seeking any financial gain from this story._

_Also, to give credit where credit is due, this story, and any sequels I might write, may show some similarities to the fanfic "The Penitent" and its unfinished mid-quels "Acts of Atonement". You can find these fanfics at http/vadersmask._

_(Unfortunately,this website doesn't allow full web addresses to be posted. But you should be able to find this webpage if you do a search for Anakin Skywalker fanfic.)_

_I loved this story so much and was saddened by the fact that the mid-quels have never been finished. So this is my response to that. I hope the writer(s) of those stories are in no way offended by my take on a similar idea. I hope you all enjoy this story._

_P.S. There may be some other similarities to other stories located at that same (above mentioned) web address as well as some characters and situations taken from Timothy Zahn's "Thrawn Trilogy"books.._

**Lost in Time**

_Author's Note: This is a second installment and sequel to my fan fiction, "Return to the Light". Therefore, you may want to read that story first before proceeding so you understand what's going on with the characters in this story._

_Also, if you are a fan of Thrawn, as with "Return to the Light", please continue to be patient with my characterization of him. For continuity, I have decided to continue writing him as I did in "Return to the Light". So thank you for your patience. _

_Prologue:_

"Luke, you better get up here." Leia said into the comm link from the cockpit of the Falcon. "There's something wrong. The fleet isn't where it's supposed to be."

Upon hearing Leia's concerned voice, Luke got up from the bed, clutching his injured arm and wincing at the pain. He staggered to the cockpit door, pushing the button to open the door with his good hand and stepped through. What he saw next was nothing any of them had ever seen before.

A huge gasp came from all the occupants of the cockpit as they saw a large, bright light flash in front of them that closely resembled the explosion of a star, causing all of them to shield their eyes from being blinded. Chewie growled out in pain from the co-pilot's seat as he threw his big, hairy arm across his eyes.

"What happened?" Luke asked after the light faded into the dark of space again.

"Not sure." Lando responded. "But it looked like a star just exploded." Lando looked back at Luke from the pilot's seat with horror on his face. "But...there aren't any stars in the quadrant of space."

"And there was no shock wave." Luke added with shock. "How is that even possible?"

Leia, who had still been looking forward, blinked and rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was seeing. "Look, guys." She said as she pointed out the front window. "Is that what I think it is?" All four pairs of eyes looked with awe as they saw what appeared to be a black hole forming ahead of them. Everything, including the light, was being sucked towards it.

"That's exactly what it looks like it is!" Lando said as Chewie let out another growl and both of them leaped into action. "You all better sit down. It will be a miracle if we get out of this one." He said as he and Chewie locked the Falcon's engines in full reverse.

Luke and Leia sat down in the seats behind them and strapped themselves in just as the Falcon began to shake from the engines fighting to break away from the gravitational pull that was pulling them closer and closer to the vacuum that seemed to be swallowing everything in sight. But it was no use. The pull was too great and the freighter finally succumbed to the will of the black hole and was sucked in.

"It was nice knowing all of you." Was the last thing anyone heard coming from Lando and then there was silence.

**Chapter 1**

_Couresant_

It had been three years since the events of Mt. Tantiss had taken place and Han had agreed to bring Luke and Anakin back to Tatooine to help rediscover their roots and visit old friends. They even heard news that the pod races had even started back up at Boonta Eve, so they all decided that would be one of their vacation destinations.

Han had always been curious about Anakin's and Luke's origins, so this was chance to see parts of Tatooine that he'd never seen before and meet some of the people they knew and heard so much about. Besides, it had been a long time since the three of them had had a chance to just spend time together without the women around and to just have some fun.

About 2 months ago, Padme gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who they named Shmi after Anakin's mother. Anakin smiled at how much she resembled her mother and sister, Leia, knowing that one day she would be as beautiful as them when she grew up. She was smart too and already showing signs of being strong in the Force and he hope that one day he would be able to train her as well as her big brother, Ben.

Ben was now just turning 3 years old and Anakin was looking forward to starting his Jedi training after he returned from their vacation on Tatooine. Padme often remarked how much Ben was like Anakin, even in looks. Except for his chocolate brown hair, he looked exactly like him, the same shape and blue color of the eyes, face, nose and little dimple in his chin.

Although Ben had been excited about getting a new little sister, he soon realized that he was no longer the center of attention and constantly reminded his parents of his presence by testing their patience. Anakin smiled at himself at the knowledge that Jedi training would soon curb him of that. But then he thought of Luke and how he wished he could have had the opportunity to have teach Luke from an early age, so it was more than just teaching Ben self control for the sake of his parents' sanity, he knew he would cherish every moment he spent training Ben.

When Anakin suggested it, Padme had been reluctant to let her son start such rigorous training at such a young age and was afraid he would never have a real childhood. But Anakin convinced her that the training of their son wouldn't be as strict as the old ways and that he would make sure that Ben still had a chance to be a little boy.

Padme had a ton of work to do when she came back to the Senate after maternity leave and reluctantly left her precious children with her handmaiden, Sylvia, for hours on end to get caught up. But she knew that at the end of the day she would be with them again and that got her through the day.

Leia was just as busy with her duties as Chancellor. Surprisingly, they hadn't heard from the Empire in 3 years, but some of the newly acquired planetary systems were squabbling amongst themselves regarding trade and who knows what else, which meant she was in endless meetings listening to arguments. It was giving her a headache just thinking about it.

So when the men declared that that they were going on this little adventure together, Padme and Leia didn't object. They knew that they were in need of a vacation and gave their blessings. They just wished they could go along, but duty called and they couldn't escape.

Anakin, especially, was excited to escape the riggers of midnight feedings and diaper changes, which left him so tired that he was completely useless when it came to training the new padawans. Most of the time he was asleep face first at a table or lying on a bench somewhere, completely exhausted, which is where Luke and little Ben found him the morning of their departure. He was fast asleep on a bench just outside the light saber training room in the Jedi Temple.

"Father, wake up." Luke said as he nudged his father in the arm. But he didn't even stir. _Boy, Shmi must have kept him up all night this time._ Luke thought to himself with a smile. He decided to let him sleep a little longer and took Ben's hand, putting his index finger up to his mouth as he looked down at his little brother. "Shhh…We'll let Father sleep a little longer, ok?"

Little Ben giggled. "Ok, Luke." He whispered as Luke led him to the bench on the other side of the column where their father slept and sat down. Ben climbed up onto the bench next to Luke, with his feet dangling. He started swinging his feet, trying to amuse himself.

Luke watched as the parents arrived to pick up the young padawans he had just been instructing in the art of blocking shots fired from a remote using light sabers and the Force, just as Obi-Wan had taught him many years ago. "Bye Master Luke!" One of them shouted and he waved back them.

Unlike the Jedi Order of the Old Republic, Anakin and Luke decided to keep the children with their families. So when a young child came to the temple to train to become a Jedi, the family had the option to come with them.

This came due to how much Anakin had missed his own mother when he came here to train as a child. He always felt that if his mother had been around to guide and direct him as a parent, then perhaps things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. He didn't mean any disrespect to Obi-Wan as his mentor, and a father figure; but he wasn't his mother. And Anakin would have liked to have had her in his life.

Ben was starting to get impatient and fidget. "Can we wake him up now, Luke?" He asked while looking up at his brother and still swinging his feet back and forth.

Luke smiled down at his little brother. "Ok. Come on." And they got up, or in Ben's case, down and went back around the column to where Anakin was still sleeping. Luke nudged his father again in the arm, which this time caused him to stir.

Anakin opened one eye and glared at Luke with it. "Just a little longer." And he rolled away from Luke, pulling his cape up closer around him like a blanket.

"Shmi kept you both up again last night, didn't she?" Luke asked with a smirk and his arms crossed in front of him.

"Yes, now please leave me alone." Came a muffled reply.

"You know…you can sleep on the way to Tatooine."

Anakin rolled over and faced his son, with both eyes open this time, and was quiet for a moment like he was thinking really hard about Luke's statement. "Oh, alright." He sighed and then sat up, putting his elbows on his knees and rubbing his eyes with both hands. He then got to his feet.

"Father." Came a little boy's voice. Anakin looked down into the blue eyes of Ben. "Can't I come with you? Pleeaaaaase?" Ben looked up at his father with hopeful eyes.

Anakin looked down at his son and smiled. He then squatted down and put his hands on Ben's shoulders. "Not this time, Ben. I need you to stay home and watch over your mother and sister. Can you do that?"

"But Father, I don't want to stay home. I want to come with you and Luke." Ben said as he started to cry.

"Ben, I know you want to go but we promise we'll be back before your birthday next week. Ok?"

"But that's such a long time." Ben said with a pout.

Luke was smiling down at his little brother and also squatted down. "Ben, it's not such a long time. And we'll bring back some presents for you from Tatooine."

Ben lit up. "Presents? Oh Luke! What kind of presents?" He was clapping his hands together and was jumping up and down.

"If I told you that, it wouldn't be a surprise." Luke smiled at his brother.

Anakin laughed as he stood up. "Uh oh, now you've done it, Luke. He won't let you forget that you know."

"Hey kiddo. What's all the fuss about?" They all turned to see Han walking up to them and Luke stood up again.

"Han!" Ben said as he ran up to him with arms outstretched. Han picked him up and Ben gave him a big hug and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" Ben said as he reacted to Han messing with his hair and Han put him down. All three men laughed as Ben glared up at Han and rubbed his own little hand through his hair.

Han looked over to Anakin and Luke, putting his hands on his hips. "So…are we going or what? I went over to your place, Anakin, and Padme said you were still here."

"What's she doing home so early?" Anakin asked with concern.

"Oh, she said something about wanting to see her husband off…and is wondering where you are." Han replied with a smirk.

Anakin gasped. "Oops! I forgot about that. What time is it?" Anakin said with a guilty look on his face and looked at the clock on the wall. "Uh oh, I told her I'd be home an hour ago with Ben. She's going to kill me."

"Well, then, we better get you and Ben there before she sends out the posse." Luke said with a smirk. Anakin took Ben's hand and they walked through the grand halls of the Jedi Temple to where Luke's speeder was parked in the temple's hanger, and then flew off to Anakin's and Padme's apartment.

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When they arrived at the apartment, Anakin went in the door first, carrying Ben in his arms. Padme was there waiting for him, sitting on the couch, with little Shmi in her arms. She smiled up at Anakin as he came through the door. "Anakin, I thought you'd never get here." She then started to scowl. "Where have you been?"

Anakin hung his head down in shame. "Sorry Padme. I fell asleep again."

Padme just chuckled a little and then smiled at him. "Ok…Well…if that's your reason, then you're forgiven."

Anakin put Ben down and Ben grabbed Luke's hand as Anakin walked over to where Padme was sitting with Shmi. "And how is our little sleep depriver doing today?" Anakin asked as he sat down next to his wife with a smirk on his face and gave Padme a kiss on the cheek.

"She's doing fine." Padme said as they both looked down at baby Shmi. She was looking at up at both her parents with her big brown eyes full of curiosity. "She's quiet at the moment. I just fed her. Would you like to hold her, my dear?"

"Yes, I'd like to say good-bye to my little baby girl before I leave." Anakin held out both his hands as Padme placed Shmi in them. Anakin supported her head with his right arm, smiling and talking baby talk to her. "Goo, goo, goo." Han and Luke laughed from the doorway. "Hey! Just wait until you have kids of your own. You'll both turn into complete idiots over your kids too." Anakin told them as he turned and smiled at them.

Han and Luke laughed again but grew quiet at that thought. Of course, Han and Leia had talked about having kids soon. Leia, especially, since seeing both her parents so happy with their little ones. Luke just hadn't even thought about it. He'd been so busy with trying to get the Jedi Order off the ground again that he hadn't really had the time. Plus he hadn't really met anyone he felt that type of devotion to like his parents and Han and Leia. Although, he, too, thought he'd like to have kids some day.

"So where are you guys going to stay while on Tatooine? Did you finally decide?" Padme asked as she reached over to take Shmi back from Anakin. Anakin kissed his daughter on the forehead and handed her back to his wife.

"Well…I was thinking we should stay at the Lars' farm where I grew up." Luke said. "I've been meaning to go back there for awhile and it's still technically mine. Although I'm going to need help getting the power generators running again. The last time I was there, they weren't working."

"That's no problem, Luke. I can take a look at them." Anakin said as he got up from the couch. "I'll go get my luggage and we can get going." And he went into their bedroom and brought out the suitcase he'd packed the night before.

Padme followed them to the door, still holding Shmi in her arms. Anakin bent down and kissed her on the lips. And they smiled at each other as they backed away from each other. He kissed Shmi on the forehead again and then bent down to Ben as he came up to him and gave him a hug. "Now you mind your mother and Sylvia. Ok Ben?" Anakin asked his young son.

"Yes, Father." Ben answered shyly and with a pout. He still wanted to go with them.

"You're the man of the house for a few days." Anakin continued. "So you help your mother."

"Ok." He was now hanging onto the hem of Padme's dress.

Luke also hugged and kissed his mother on the cheek, touching Shmi on the cheek. Then he bent down and gave Ben a hug.

"Good-bye, Kiddo." Han said as he smiled down at Ben and then he looked at Padme. "I'll make sure they stay out of trouble, Padme." He said with a wink and smile.

"Oh…and who will keep you out of trouble?" Padme asked him with a smirk."

"We will." Luke answered with a smirk.

The three men then went out the door and went to load up Luke's speeder with luggage. Then they headed off to the hanger where the Falcon was awaiting them.

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_The Millennium Falcon (Past - after the "black hole")_

The crew of the Millennium Falcon awoke in their chairs in the cockpit to just the hum of the life support system. They were shocked at the fact that the ship was still intact and they were still alive. They were just lingering in space, not knowing what happened and where they were.

"Where are we?" Luke asked while trying to look around for any constellations that looked familiar.

"I don't know." Leia responded. "What happened?" She was rubbing her head as the first signs of a headache started to plague her.

Chewie growled. "I don't know, Chewie." Lando responded. "Maybe we should find a place to land and then we can figure out exactly what happened." Chewie growled again that he thought it was a good idea.

"Yes, but first, where are we?" Luke asked as Lando started searching through the star charts and had the ships computer figure out their location.

"We're not far from Tatooine." Lando responded. "Shall we go there?"

"Sounds good to me." Luke responded. "We can start making plans on how we're going to rescue Han from Jabba's palace. We can stay at my old home if you like."

"That sounds like as good a plan as any at this point." Lando responded. Chewie growled with agreement and they set course for Tatooine.

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_Millennium Falcon (Present)_

Anakin had decided to take Luke's advice and headed to the sleeping quarters as soon as they got on board to try to get some sleep. He had slept for most of the trip and was awakened when he heard the sounds of the Falcon preparing to land.

He got up from the bed and headed towards the cockpit to see what was going on. "Are we there?" Anakin asked. He was still a little groggy.

Luke and Han turned to see his Anakin standing in the doorway, yawning. "Yes, we're landing in Mos Eisley now." Luke answered him.

"Good. Luke, know any place reliable that we can rent a good speeder?" Anakin asked.

Han turned to look at Anakin. "Anakin, this is Mos Eisley. There's nothing reliable about it. You should know that."

Anakin walked over and sat in the seat behind Luke. "Yes, well, I haven't been here in awhile and I lived near Mos Espa. Remember? Mos Eisley is Luke's territory."

"Yes, I'm sorry. I forgot. Mos Eisley, Mos Espa…They're all the same to me. spaceports with shady reputations." Han said as he continued to turn knobs, flip switches and pilot the Falcon into the circular, recessed space dock. The Falcon sat down with a slight bump. "Well…we're here!" Han announced as he turned everything off and got up.

"I still down understand why we couldn't just take the Falcon to the farm." Luke said to Han.

"And let the Jawas or the Sand People tear it apart? Not a chance. We're leaving it right here." Han replied while pointing to the floor.

"Han, I don't think it's any safer here." Anakin told him with a smirk.

"Well…at least here…there are people watching." Han tried to rationalize to them. Anakin and Luke laughed at him. "Hey! What's so funny?"

"Nothing, Han. If it makes you feel better to leave the Falcon here, then we'll leave it here." Anakin told him while still trying not to laugh.

The trio then set out to find a good-sized speeder they could rent from a dealer that Luke remembered to be somewhat respectable. He went to school with his son, so he knew that he wouldn't cheat them at least.

They loaded up what supplies they could fit into the speeder's trunk and then Anakin turned to his two traveling companions. "So everyone ready? Whose driving?"

"I'll drive." Luke responded. "I know the area well."

"Sounds good to me." Han said as he climbed into the back seat of the speeder.

Anakin and Luke climbed into the front. Luke turned the speeder in the direction of the Lars moisture farm, driving carefully through the city limits. Once they reached the edge of town, he hit the accelerator. "We should be there in less than an hour." Luke said.

"Hey! When is that race at Boota Eve, anyway?" Han asked from the back seat.

Anakin turned around from the passenger seat to look at him. "Not until the end of the week.'

"Awww. Well, I was hoping it would be sooner than that. I want to hear all your stories, Anakin. Luke told me about you winning the Boota Eve Classic at age 9. That's great! You never mentioned it when you told me how you and Padme met."

"Ok. I'll tell you." Anakin said as they continued on their journey.

Luke listened as his father retold the stories to Han, who listened with interest and enthusiasm, and he smiled to himself. _This trip is going to be a lot of fun with Han along._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_Tatooine_

Luke pulled the speeder up just outside the dome entrance to the Lars estate. He hadn't been here in about a year, but one of the neighboring farmers he knew growing up offered to keep an eye on the property for him with the promise that he could farm part of the land for as long as Luke owned the property. Luke had thought it seemed like a fair arrangement and had agreed to it because he still wasn't quite ready to give it up the property.

This same neighbor, Luke also found out, had been the one who had taken care of his aunt and uncle's burials, in which he rightly thanked him. And in turn, it made Luke even more inclined to accept his offer out of gratitude.

Anakin looked around the property as the speeder came to a halt just outside the door. He was happy that Luke had decided not to give up the property right away and was glad that there was someone still looking after it. Otherwise he knew for sure that it would have been taken over by someone or ransacked by intruders.

This place had been his mother's home after he had gone away to train to be a Jedi. A place where she had been happy and he felt a connection to her here, so it would have broken his heart to see it destroyed.

"It looks the same as I remember it." Anakin told Luke as he got out of the speeder and went around to the back to start unpacking the trunk. He was starting to set one of their suitcases on the ground, when he happened to look over to where his mother's grave had been. He then got a puzzled look on his face and absently set the suitcase in his hand down on the ground. "Luke, where are the headstones for the family cemetery?" He said with a little sense of panic and dismay.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked with surprise. "There's never been a family cemetery here that I know of. That is except Uncle Owen's and Aunt Beru's graves that are over there." He pointed in another direction to where they saw two grave markers.

Anakin walked over to where he remembered seeing the graves, when he'd been here years ago for his mother's funeral, and spun around, looking for any sign that there had ever been anyone buried there. But any signs that had been there were now completely gone. "Her grave was right here." Anakin said as he pointed both hands towards the ground and then turned back to Luke with tears forming in his eyes."

"Whose grave, Father?" Luke asked with concern as he got out of the speeder himself.

"Your grandmother's…my mother." Anakin had a tear rolling down his cheek now. He'd hoped to also visit his mother's final resting place while they were here, to look at something as tangible as a gravestone and pay his respects.

"Father, I had no idea. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru never mentioned it." Luke now had a puzzled look on his face and put his right hand up to his chin deep in thought. "At least I don't remember them mentioning it." Luke then walked around the speeder and over to where his father was standing and put a hand on his shoulder. "We can certainly get another grave marker for her and put it here."

Anakin turned back to his son from where he had been staring at the ground. "I'd like that." He said with a smile. "And she would like it too if she were here."

Han, who had been listening to their conversation while continuing to do the unpacking, walked over to them. "I wonder what could have happened to the grave markers. That's odd." He, too, had a puzzled look on his face. "But Luke's right. We can put another grave marker here. We can even do it tomorrow if you like."

Anakin smiled at both of them. "Thank you." He, too, was curious as to why Owen and Beru would want to hide the cemetery. "Luke, you knew Owen and Beru Lars better than I did. Why do you think they would want to hide the cemetery?"

Luke thought about that for a moment. "Who knows…" He said with a shrug. "Although, I think it may have had something to do with them trying to hide my past from me. They told me you had been a pilot on a spice freighter." Luke said with a little bit of snicker.

"A spice freighter? Anakin said with amusement. "How boring could they make me?"

"Boring…Really boring. Believe me." Luke now had his arms crossed. "I guess they thought if I knew you had been a Jedi Knight that I would run off on some wild adventure."

"Well?" Han said with a laugh. "And you did."

"Well, I didn't really have much choice in the matter, did I?" Luke said as he turned in Han's direction.

Anakin cringed at Luke's tone and started to get a guilty look on his face. He became very quiet.

Luke realized what he had just implied and then felt horrible because he knew his father would try to claim blame for it. "Father, I didn't mean that the way it sounded." He was now trying to look his father right in the eyes and Anakin looked away.

"There's no denying it, Luke. It was storm troopers under my orders who killed them. They were good people, Luke. They didn't deserve to die, not like that."

Luke let out a sigh. "Father, how could you have known that Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru would be the ones who had CPO and R2? And, remember, the man who gave those orders, wasn't you." Luke was now holding both of his father's shoulders and looking straight into his eyes. "That man is dead, remember?" Anakin tried to avoid looking back at Luke, but he knew that he was right.

"You're right, Luke." He weakly smiled and then paused as another tear came down his cheek. His thoughts returned to the issue concerning the headstones and he also had another thought. "I'd also like to get another headstone for my step-father, Cliegg Lars. I think my mother would have liked that. I could tell that he loved her very much and… they should be remembered together, as husband and wife."

"Certainly, Father." Luke said with relief that his father was letting go of some of the guilt.

Han, who had been silent during this exchange, knew how if felt to lose his parents, being orphaned at a young age. But he never knew them, so he didn't have any memories of them. Anakin did have memories of his mother and he was sure that it had to hurt worse.

He thought back to how he always got through dealing with the pain of the loss of his parents and other people he'd cared about; and he kept coming to the same conclusion, that humor and keeping busy with work will get your mind off of it. Help you to move on. So he decided that he better do something to pull them out of this melancholy. "Hey, guys? We better get those power generators working before the suns go down, or were in for a very dark and cold night. And I, for one, don't want to have to share body heat with either one of you to stay warm." He paused and then looked at both of them a smirk. "You're not my type."

Anakin and Luke looked over at him and laughed. "You're right." Anakin said with a smile on his face as he sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He'd forgotten how cold it could get on this desert planet at night. "We should get started on them right away."

"Yeah, so where are they, Luke?" Han added.

"This way." Luke said as he headed for the dome entrance. He picked up his suitcase from near the speeder and went inside. Han and Anakin also picked up their suitcases and followed Luke inside. They'd get their food and other supplies from the speeder later.

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All three men had been working on the two power generators for hours and the suns were starting to set. They decided that for their purposes, they only needed to fix one of them so they were using parts from one to fix the other. But then they ran into a snag when the discovered that one of the parts was bad on both generators.

"Oh blast!" Anakin cursed. "Both of these are damaged. We'll never going to get this fixed now." He was holding the two parts in his hands and looking over to Luke who was cleaning grease off of his hands. "You're Uncle Owen didn't happen to keep spares, did he?"

"I'm afraid not. They were too expensive to keep in stock. We'd usually just go over to Anchorhead and purchase a new one when we needed it. They went bad quite often actually."

Anakin sighed. "It will be dark by the time we get back and the Tusken Raiders will be out."

"I'll go." Han volunteered.

"Yeah, Anchorhead isn't that far, Father; and Han should be back before the suns set." Luke then turned to Han. "But do even know how to get there?"

"No." Has said as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "But if you point me in the right direction, I have a great sense of direction."

"Han, I'll go." Anakin offered.

"I'll be alright. Just give me the part you need." Han replied. "Besides, didn't you say you needed to do some more fine-tuning to this thing? I'll be back before you know it."

Anakin and Luke looked at each other and then decided that Han was probably right, so Anakin handed Han one of the damaged parts. Han grabbed his jacket and started towards the stairs to leave.

"Han…Be careful." Anakin said as Han turned back to him from the bottom of the stairs that lead to the top level.

"Don't worry. It's me?" He smirked and then continued up the stairs to leave.

_That's what I'm afraid of._ Anakin thought to himself as they heard the speeder start up and leave. He looked at Luke. "I sure hope he gets back in time."

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_Millennium Falcon (Past)_

"There it is." Luke said as they looked in the distance to see the shadowy outline of the dome entrance to the Lars home. They had been flying very low and at a very slow speed so they could see more easily find Luke's childhood home.

Unbeknown to them, though, this gained them some unwanted attention from the local tribe of Tusken Raiders. They had spotted the Falcon and were heading towards the ship on Banthas as it set down a short distance from the dome.

As the ship touched down with a small bump, Lando and Chewie started to shut things down and got up to head towards the ramp. Luke and Leia followed them as they walked down the ramp looked towards the setting suns to the house. "That's beautiful, Luke." Leia said with awe. "You never told us how beautiful this place could be."

"Well…I guess, when you've lived somewhere all your life, you forget to see its beauty. And you're right. It is very beautiful. I've forgotten how much." Luke smiled.

It was then that they heard the cries of Tusken Raiders and turned in that direction. "Sand People!" Luke yelled. "We've got to get under cover." They were closer to the Lars home than the Falcon, so they ran behind the entrance dome as the Tusken Raiders opened fire on them. Chewie let out a battle yell and started shooting his blaster back at them. The others also pulled out blasters, Luke using his only hand, and started firing back into the desert, hoping they were actually making a difference.

"I can't see a thing!" Lando yelled. "How are we going to hit them if we can't see them!"

"I don't know. Just try to do the best you can." Luke said as he continued to shoot his blaster with his left hand.

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Inside the house, Anakin and Luke were sitting in the dining area with lanterns for light and drinking a blue liquid. They were in the middle of discussing their concern over Han's tardiness when they heard the sound of a ship landing. They looked at each other wondering who it was. But then they heard the sounds of blaster shots and what sounded like the battle cries of the Tusken Raiders. They abruptly put their glasses down on the table and looked at each other with shock. "Han!" They said with unison.

Both men quickly jumped up from their chairs and grabbed their light sabers from their belts as they ran up the stairs to the exit. They ignited their light sabers as they came out the door and blocked some of the shots fired by the Sand People, which ricocheted off the blades as they were firing bullets, not laser blasts.

The group taking cover behind the dome, watched in awe as they saw two dark figures with light sabers emerge from the house to block the shots and then fought back the attacking Tuskens that ran up to try to fight them in hand to hand combat. _They're Jedi. _Luke (past) thought to himself.

Snapping out of their initial shock, the group behind the dome decided to join their unknown Jedi allies and also started fighting off the Tusken Raiders. Chewie took two out at time and frightened off some with his battle cry.

"Chewie?" Luke asked with confusion as he blocked a blow from a Gaffi stick with his green light saber.

Anakin, too, was surprised at Chewie's presence as he blocked blows from a Gaffi stick with his blue light saber, and then ended up cutting it in two. The, now, defenseless Tusken, decided to flee from Anakin and he started to pursue him. But then Anakin decided it wasn't worth it, and stopped just as Chewie let out another battle cry, which this time made the Tuskens scatter and run for their Banthas. They watched as they saw the Sand People fleeing into the darkness until all that could be heard was the hum of the Luke's and Anakin's light sabers.

They watched in awe as, not only Leia, Lando and Chewie came close enough for them to see their faces in the faint light given off of their light sabers…but also…Luke?

Both Lukes just stared at each other in disbelief as the others looked on with confused expressions on their faces. "How…Who?" Luke (past) asked.

Anakin who was in just as much a state of confusion as the rest of them, snapped out of it to hear the cries of the Sand People in the distance. "We better get inside. The Sand People frighten easily, but they will soon return."

Luke turned to his father and nodded. "Yes, we should get inside. Perhaps, then, we can sort this out."

The awe struck group entered the dome and went down the stairs. Anakin and Luke turned off their light sabers and then led them across the courtyard to the dining area where they had the lanterns set up. They turned and watched the faces of the others looking at them as they walked into the light-filled room.

They stood in a circle around the table and just continued to stare at one another, not knowing what to say. Luke (past) was the first to say something, still clutching his injured hand. "You're Jedi?" He asked.

"Yes." Luke answered him. "Who are you?"

"I'm Luke Skywalker. Who are you?" Luke (past) answered.

Luke's and Anakin's jaws dropped. _This can't be possible. _Anakin thought to himself. And then he noticed it…Luke (past) clutching his arm and he was obviously in pain, even though he was trying to hide it. And then it struck him like a ton of bricks. _His right hand is missing._ _Oh Force!_ _It can't be, can it?_ He turned to Luke. He also seemed to be noticing his double's injury with curiosity.

"My name is also Luke Skywalker." Luke finally answered him. "But there can't be two of us, can there?" Luke said as he turned to look at his father. Anakin shrugged, not knowing what to say.

Lando, Leia and Chewie were watching all of this, not knowing what to say either. It was completely unfathomable to them too that there were two Luke Skywalkers.

Anakin who continued to look at Luke's (past) missing hand, started to put two and two together. _Is it possible? Could they have traveled into the future? _"Luke, I couldn't help but notice that you need medical attention." Anakin said with concern as he pointed to his arm. "We have some medical supplies…"

"I'm fine." Luke (past) said as he turned to look at Anakin. "But thank you. I got some temporary medical attention on the way here." And he showed him the metal cap that was covering the end of his arm where a hand should have been.

Anakin studied him for a moment. If he was right, he could tell that this Luke from the past was not only dealing with the pain of losing his hand, but also with pain that is inflecting his very soul, the horrible truth that Darth Vader had just told him at Bespin. That Darth Vader is his father. Anakin felt like he was going to be sick.

Leia was watching Anakin with interest. _Who is this man? There's something about him that seems…familiar somehow. And why does he look like he wants to hurl?_

Anakin felt Leia's eyes on him and turned to look at her. _Does she know?_

"You haven't introduced yourself yet." Leia started. "What's you're name? You seem so familiar? Have we met?"

All eyes were on Anakin, including Luke who was looking at him with horror and confusion. _Oh Force! She does sense something. How am I going to get around this one? _"My name is Ani." Anakin answered her finally. _Hopefully they won't ask for a last name._

"Ani?" Leia said as she looked at him in thought. "I don't seem to remember an Ani. Perhaps I'm mistaken and you just remind me of someone."

Anakin and Luke let out a sigh of relief. "Perhaps." He answered and then turned to look at Luke. Anakin was getting the impression that his son had also caught on that these people may be past version himself and their friends and family…perhaps even the memories of this meeting were starting enter his mind. _I'll have to ask him later._

It was then that they heard the sound of a speeder approaching. Luke and Anakin looked at each other again. _Han!_ They listened as they heard his footsteps coming down the stairs and across the courtyard towards the dining area. "Hey guys! I got the part we need." He said as he held it up so Anakin and Luke could see it and noticed the others standing in the room with their backs to him. "Oh, so you all decided to join us, huh?"

Leia, Luke, Lando and Chewie slowly turned around and looked at Han with awe. "Han?" Leia asked with shock. _How did he escape the carbonite?_

"What?" Han asked with confusion on his face….and then he noticed both Lukes standing near each other. "What the…"

Anakin put his right hand over his eyes. _This is going to be a long night._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Han continued to stare at both Lukes and then turned to Anakin. "What's going on?"

Anakin and then Luke quickly walked over to Han and each took one of his arms. "Excuse us for a minute." Anakin told them and they watched as he and Luke led Han away to the far end of the courtyard, ducking into the store room. They had set up lanterns all over the house anticipating that they would need them if Han didn't get back before nightfall, so the room was already lit.

As soon as they were inside, Han yanked his arms away from Anakin's and Luke's grasps. "Hey what gives?" He quickly turned to face them and was now looking at them with confusion, still holding the part he had traveled to Anchorhead to get in his right hand. "Do you have an identical twin we don't know about, Luke?"

"No." Luke said. "And I don't exactly know what's going on."

"I think I do." Anakin replied as Han and Luke turned to him with surprise. "The Emperor had been experimenting with time travel technology not long before he died and I'm thinking that our visitors some how got mixed up in some kind of experiment. Maybe Thrawn found out where the Emperor hid the technology." He then had a thought and turned to Luke. "Are you remembering any of this? I mean…coming here and meeting us?"

Luke looked at his father with confusion. "No…at least not yet."

"Well…once you do, if you do, please let us know because maybe your memories of this will help us figure out what's going on." Anakin said as Luke nodded his head.

"Now wait a minute!" Han exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that they are from the past?"

"That's what I'm thinking. The other Luke is missing his hand and clutching it like the injury just happened." Anakin said. "And they seemed rather surprised to see you, Han. My guess is they just escaped from Bespin after your carbon freezing incident."

"Carbon freezing incident? That happened like…what? 7 years ago?" Han said as he continued to look at Anakin. "Wait! They don't know that you were…"

"Darth Vader? No, thank the Force." Anakin answered him. "In fact, I told them my name is Ani. So please remember to call me by nickname or that other Luke is going to catch on rather quickly."

"He's right, Han. I knew my father's name had been Anakin Skywalker and Vader had just told me that he was my father when I fought him at Bespin. So if father is right about what moment in time they traveled from, my past self is definitely going to put two and two together if he hears Fathers true name." Luke added.

Han turned to Luke. "Luke. You're forgetting something. Anakin looks like he's the same age as you. So how are they going to figure out that he's your father? And then there's that whole…" Han held both hands up like he was trying to outline Anakin's form. "…that whole black suit thing."

Both Anakin and Luke looked at Han in thought. They had gotten so used to the fact that most people in the galaxy knew they are father and son that they hadn't seen it from that point of view.

_Thank the Force for Han_. Luke thought to himself and let out a slight sigh of relief. "Han's right, Father. Unless we tell them, they aren't going to guess that we're father and son. Perhaps they'll think we're cousins or even brothers."

Anakin still wasn't totally convinced, especially after Leia's questions about him seeming so familiar. He folded his arms over his chest. "Well…I'd still feel better if both of you would call me Ani for the time being. I don't want to take any chances."

"You realize, though, that we will have to tell them eventually, especially if we take them back to Couresant. They'll go ballistic the first time someone asks them about your past life as Vader." Han pointed out.

Anakin hadn't actually thought that far ahead, but he knew that Han was right. They would have to tell them, and soon. "We will tell them…but just not yet. I want to give them a chance to get to know me a little better before then." Anakin paused, looking at the ground and then back up at Han. "They might take it better if they know how I am now."

"And just the fact that you're friends now with Father, Han, should help." Luke added.

"Who says we're friends?" Han said as he turned to look at Anakin with a smirk. "You know this presents me with a unique opportunity." He now had a big grin on his face.

_Oh no..Now what? A_nakin rolled his eyes. "What do you want now, Han?"

"Nothing. This is just going to be a lot of fun to watch."

"Han! I thought you had forgiven Father." Luke responded.

"Yeah…I did. But that doesn't mean I can't have some fun with all this."

Anakin and Luke both glared at him with their arms crossed.

Han just laughed. "I'm kidding guys. The look on your faces…" He continued to laugh. "It was priceless." Anakin and Luke looked at each other and laughed too, relaxing their arms.

"What's going on in here?" Luke (past) said as he approached the storage room and looked in. "We were all wondering if you knew something…I mean about what's going on."

All three men turned to look at the past version of Luke. "We were just trying to figure that out." Anakin answered him with hesitance in his voice.

"Hey, don't we have a power generator to fix?" Han said holding the part towards Anakin. He had recognized Anakin's uneasiness and figured he would want a reason to avoid the visitors for a little while to sort things out in his head.

"Oh, yes. I'll take that Han. Thank you." Anakin said with gratitude as he reached over and Han handed it to him. "I'll let you two talk to a…Luke here, while I finish fixing the power generator. You can also explain our theory to all of them." And with that, Anakin left the store room and headed towards the power generator located in the utility room. They all watched as he disappeared through a doorway on the opposite side of the courtyard.

"What's up with him?" Luke (past) asked the other two men, still clutching his right arm. "He acts like he's uncomfortable being around me. Did I do something to offend him?"

"No…no…Not at all." Luke answered his double. "This is just all so strange to him…to all of us. All will be explained to you when the time is right. That's all I can say right now."

Han was looking at both of the Lukes with a weird look on his face. He rubbed his right hand through his hair. "I don't get it. How can you two act so calm, like this is an everyday occurrence?"

Both of them shrugged in unison and had the same exact confused expression on their faces, which caused Han to shudder. "This is just too weird for me. You're even reacting the same way."

Both Lukes laughed. "Han, why don't we try to explain to our guests what theory we came up with?" Luke suggested to him.

"Ok. Sure. Let's go." He replied as he walked between the Lukes and headed back across the courtyard to the dining area. Both Lukes followed right behind them.

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Anakin was busily working on replacing the damaged part with the new one Han had given him. He liked fixing things, especially when he needed to get his mind off his troubles for awhile. But he wasn't concentrating on what he was doing and accidentally pinched his right thumb. "OUCH!" He said as he sucked on it to try to get the pain to go away.

"_Boy, this sure is a fine mess, Anakin."_

Anakin spun around to see the young ghostly figure of his old master. "Obi-Wan!" He said with a smile. "It's been awhile."

"_Yes, I know and I'm sorry. _Obi-Wan looked at Anakin with concern. _"I haven't had a chance to congratulate you on the new addition to your family."_

"Shmi, yes." Anakin smiled. Talking about his family always lightened his spirits. "And thank you." He then became serious when his thoughts came back to their current situation. "Do you know what's going on?" Anakin asked him as he sat down on a nearby bench.

"_I was listening to your conversation and your assumption is right…Thrawn has found the time travel technology that the Emperor had been working on; and he is running experiments on it. Although, I don't think he realizes what he has. He seems to think it a weapon of some kind."_

"Well…it could be used as a weapon." This thought made Anakin start to panic a little. "Obi-Wan, if he doesn't know what it is, we have to make sure he never finds out. Or he could try to go back in time and change things in his and the Empire's favor."

"_And that's why I'm here." _He said as he crossed his arms across his chest._. "You must destroy that technology before he does figure it out."_

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan with a start. "But what about our time traveling…visitors? They can't stay here. If they never get back, then Luke will never be there to help turn me back to the Light Side of the Force, the Emperor might still end up being alive…"

"_I know, Anakin." _Obi-Wan paused and looked at his padawan with thought and concern. _"You know Han is right. You must tell them who you used to be before you return to Couresant."_

"I realize that." Anakin said staring at the wall behind Obi-Wan and then turning his head to look him in the eye. "But where do I even begin to explain it to them? They all have many reasons to hate me…Vader… right now."

"_Initially, yes, they will be upset with you…or they may not entirely believe you. But either way, eventually they will accept it as the truth and they will forgive you as they did later."_

Anakin looked at the floor. "I know…but that doesn't make telling them any easier." Anakin sighed and then stood up to continue working on the power generator. "I'll tell them…but first I need to fix this power generator."

"_Very well. And Anakin, It will be ok. You will see." _And then he was gone.

Anakin continued to work on replacing the damaged part and had just finished tightening the last bolt when Han entered the utility room. "So how's in coming in here? It's getting rather cold and the lanterns are starting to burn out."

Anakin turned to Han and smiled. "It's done. I just finished." He then walked over to the power switch and pushed it. The generator sprung to life with a loud hum. "See?"

"Yes." Han replied as Anakin walked over to the main fuse box and flipped the switch, causing all the lights, the force shield that covers the courtyard and the heat all to come on at once. Han clapped his hands together and Anakin bowed with a smile. "Well done." Han said as he put his hands on his hips.

Anakin grabbed a rag off a table and started wiping the grease off of his hands. "So how did your talk go with our time travelers?" He said as he looked up from his hands to Han.

"Oh…rather well. They seem to think it may be a possibility, considering what happened to them on the way here."

Anakin started at Han with curiosity. "And what exactly was that?"

Han put his arms down to his sides and walked over to the bench near where Anakin was standing and sat down. He picked up the old part that Anakin had place there and started playing with it. "Oh, it seems that they were sucked into some kind of strange black hole and then ended up here." He looked up at Anakin. "And you were right…They did just come from Bespin. And they're not liking you…I mean Vader…too much right now."

Anakin walked over and sat on the bench next to him and started to take an interest in his boots. "That's what I was afraid of. But you're right. I should tell them the truth." Anakin then turned to look at Han. "…and the sooner the better."

Han lost interest in the old part and set down on the bench between them. "So when are you thinking of doing it?"

"Actually…I was thinking of doing it right now."

Han's eyes became as big as saucers. "Now? I thought you wanted to wait a little while?"

Anakin gave Han a serious look. "I know. But the more I think about it, the more I feel it has to be done now."

"If that's what you want to do. And I'll be there to back you up." Han said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll make sure they know how much I respect you now…and that I have forgiven you for what you did as Vader." Han paused for a moment and then chuckled a little. "I guess all this mean that our vacation is going to be cut short."

Anakin weakly smiled at him and then chuckled a little as well. "Yes, you're probably right. We can't very well carry on with our vacation now. And thank you, Han. I'll appreciate any assistance you can give me to make this easier on them."

"Blast! I was really looking forward to going to see the pod race." Han replied while snapping his fingers.

Anakin smiled. "Perhaps another time." He then became serious again and got up from the bench, heading towards the door. Han did the same and they walked back across the courtyard to where the others were waiting for them in the dining area. They all looked up at Anakin and Han as they entered. Anakin turned to Luke. "Luke, I've decided I better tell them the truth….about me."

Luke looked at his father with shock. "Are you absolutely sure about that?"

"Yes, Luke. I must." Luke didn't argue. He also felt deep down that now was probably the time…before they had to leave to go back to Couresant.

"Tell us what?" Leia asked with a puzzled look on her face as Anakin walked over to the counter that lined the side wall and pulled him self upon it to sit down. He dangled his feet and folded his hands between his knees.

Anakin looked down at his boots, not knowing how to start. _How do I tell them I was Darth Vader? The man that hurt them, tortured them, and took their loved ones away from them?_ He then looked up at everyone who were looking at him in silence…waiting for what he was about to tell them.

Anakin turned to Luke (past). "Luke, do you know how Obi-Wan visits you as a Force Spirit?"

Luke (past) got a puzzled look on his face wondering what this had to do with anything. "Yes."

"Well…I used to be one."

"A Force Spirit?"

"Yes." He paused looking down at his boots and then back up at Luke (past) again as the others looked on with quiet anticipation. "I should actually be about twice the age than I appear now."

Luke (past) was trying to follow this, as were the others, but it sounded so unbelievable. "So…how were you able to take human form again? I didn't even know that was possible."

"Neither did I. But the Force Spirits of the Jedi Council decided I needed a chance to redeem myself for my past crimes." They were all looking at him with interest as he sighed. "Because of what I did when I was a Sith Lord."

"You were a Sith?" Luke (past) asked with shock. "So you had turned to the Dark Side of the Force?"

"Yes. But in the end I turned back to the Light Side of the Force and sacrificed myself for a good cause. And why I turned to the Dark side in the first place is truly a long story. I can only say that I was still quite young and easily manipulated…by Palpatine when it happened." He swallowed hard and paused again. "Luke, my name before I turned to the Dark Side was….Anakin Skywalker. Ani is the nickname my wife and mother used for me."

There he said it…almost. Luke (past) looked at him with shock. He knew exactly what Anakin was trying to tell him. That he was Vader…or used to be and his father. He now understood why he had acted so strangely around him earlier…and why he seemed so concerned about him getting medical treatment for his arm. _He truly does care about me._

Although the others in his group still hadn't caught on because Luke (past) hadn't told them yet of his revelation on Bespin. But they did recognize the Skywalker name and immediately associated him with Luke.

"You're related to Luke then." Leia said cautiously.

"Yes. I am." Anakin paused as Luke (past) continued looking at him with horror yet curiosity. "I…"

Han decided it was time to interject his feelings about all this before Anakin totally finished. He walked over to stand next to Anakin, leaning up against the counter that Anakin was sitting on. "Wait, Anakin. Before you say anything else, there's something I would like to say about all this." Everyone turned to look at Han. "I just want to say that I now consider Anakin to be one of my best friends, despite what he might have done in the past. I've totally forgiven him and I can assure you that he's not the same man he was before."

Anakin weakly smiled at Han. "Thank you, Han."

"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do." And he folded his arms across his chest as he continued to lean up against the counter. Trying to be as supportive as possible. Luke also joined them.

Anakin turned back to the visitors and then sighed. "I think Luke already knows what I'm about to say and where I'm going with this. And when I do tell you, I can almost guarantee that you will all hate me. But my hope is that you will see me for the man I am now, as Han and Luke has, and, in time, will be able to see it in your hearts to forgive me."

"So who are…were you?" Lando asked.

Anakin sighed and then looked straight at them. "My Sith Lord name was…Darth Vader."

"What!" Leia exclaimed. "That's crazy!"

"It's true." Luke said. "He is my father and he was Darth Vader."

Chewie let out a huge growl and Lando reacted by immediately drawing out his blaster, pointing it at Anakin. Anakin used the Force to take it from him, calling it to his hand, just as he had disarmed them on Bespin. They all looked at him with shock.

"That won't be necessary, Lando. I'm not going to harm you. I'm not that man anymore. I've returned to the Light Side of the Force."

"You are Vader!" Leia exclaimed with horror as Anakin handed the blaster to Han.

"Was." Han corrected.

She turned to Han. "And you forgave him, Han! How could you after what he did to us? I can't believe it! Don't you remember? He's the reason my home planet of Alderaan is gone. Why so many members of the Rebel Alliance are dead!" She started to tear up.

Anakin looked at Leia with concern. "Now that was NOT my idea, Leia. That was all Tarkin. I argued with him about it for hours before you even arrived. And the Death Star…also not my idea. That monstrosity was already being planned by the Emperor long before I even joined Dark Side. And I never did really like the idea of being able to blow up entire planets."

She looked back at him with horror. _He really is Vader. I don't believe it! _"If that's the case, then why didn't you stop him!"

"He was acting under the Emperor's orders and I wasn't exactly in any position to stop him."

"But before that you tortured me…to find out where the Rebel base was."

"I'm sorry about that, Leia. It was wrong of me to do so. But…" Anakin paused. "But…I at least got Tarkin to agree to let me try to get the information out of you that way first….But when you didn't give up the location of the Rebel base to me, then all bets were off and Tarkin was right back to his plan of threatening to blow up Alderaan to get you to talk."

"Then you're saying it's MY fault?" She said with shock.

Anakin looked at her with a start. "No…No….that's not what I'm saying at all, Leia. In fact, I respected you for your valor…Still do. If I had been in your position, I wouldn't have given up the information either. You did the right thing, Leia. It was Tarkin who gave the order to have Alderaan destroyed."

Leia couldn't believe her ears. Neither could the others. _This man…is…was Darth Vader…and he seemed so….so…normal._ _He definitely doesn't seem to be the same man he was._ Leia started to shake her head. "This is crazy. Why am I even entertaining all this? Why am I even trying to talk to you?"

"To be angry, is to be human, Leia. As Darth Vader, I betrayed you, all of you, in so many ways. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would never have done any of those things. You must understand that I am no longer Darth Vader and have returned to the Light Side of the Force. I am now Anakin Skywalker once again. A peace loving man who just wants to try to put right some of the wrongs I did in the past and work hard help rebuild the New Republic and the New Jedi Order."

They all looked at him in shock. "What did you say?" Leia finally said.

Anakin would have thought Luke and Han would have told them about that. "You mean you don't know? Han, Luke, you didn't tell them?"

"No, Father. We hadn't gotten that far yet." Luke answered him.

Anakin then smiled. "Well…there's so much for us to tell you then. The Emperor is dead, the New Republic has been reformed, and Luke and I are re-establishing the Jedi Order. And…" He turned to Luke (past). "…Your mother is alive and you have a new brother and sister."

Luke (past) looked at him with shock. "What?"

"It's true." Luke said to his double with a smile and then turned to his father, becoming serious. "Uh oh…We still haven't told them about our connection to Leia."

Leia turned to Luke with a start. "What connection do I have to you and…" She looked at Anakin with contempt, pointing at him. "…and him?"

Anakin, Han and Luke looked at each other and then back to Leia and the others. _Of course, I wouldn't have told her yet…not until Endor. _Luke thought to himself. "You're my twin sister, Leia."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Leia looked at Luke and then Anakin with disbelief and horror. _Luke…my brother…that's wonderful! But how can that monster be my father?_ "No…No…that can't be possible, Luke! Vader can't be my…our father!"

"It's true, Leia." Luke continued. "And your future self has learned to forgive him as the rest of us have."

Leia started to hyperventilate. "I need to get out of here…to be alone." She immediately jumped up from her seat at the table and ran out of the room and across the courtyard, towards the stairs to the outside.

"Leia!" Han shouted and started to run after her, but Anakin jumped down from the counter to stop him.

"Leave me alone!" Leia shouted as she ran up the stairs to the outside.

"Han, let her go." Anakin told him as Han continued to try to get passed him.

"But Anakin, she needs me!" Han tried to plead with him and continued to struggle to get around him. "Let me go after her!"

"She needs to be alone, Han. You know how Leia is. When she's ready, she'll open up to us." Anakin said as they heard the door slam and the sound of Leia running on the gravel above.

Han knew Anakin was right and started to calmed down. Seeing this, Anakin let go of the grip he'd had on Han's jacket and backed away. Han looked down to the ground. "You're right. She'd probably just push me away anyway. She did the last time too." He then looked over at Luke. "But I'd feel better if you would go try to talk to her, Luke. She always did open up to you."

"I'll go check on her in a few minutes, Han." Luke said as he turned to Han. "But Father is right. We should let her be alone for a little while at least."

Luke (past), who had remained silent through this exchange, looked up at his future self and then Anakin…_My father…as he used to be._ It filled Luke (past) with joy that his father had turned back to the Light Side of the Force. _But still…everything he did to us…to Leia_. _And Leia…my twin sister? _He started to smile. _I always did feel that we had some kind of special bond between us. This must be what I'd been sensing all along._

Anakin suddenly realized that he had been ignoring Luke (past) and turned to face the past version of his son. Luke (past) was looking back at him with a strange smile on his face. "Are you alright?" Anakin asked him as he walked over and sat in the seat next to him. He reached towards Luke's (past) injured arm, looking into his eyes with concern and guilt. Luke (past) flinched, losing the smile he had at the thought of Leia being his sister, and pulled his arm away from Anakin. Anakin hesitated. "I am really sorry about that. I hope you know that and will be able to forgive me."

Luke (past) continued to grasp his arm, looking back at Anakin…his father…with suspicion and hurt. He didn't know what to say. _The last time I spoke to him, he'd cut off my hand and told me he was my father. But…but that was Vader. Vader is of the Dark Side. This man sitting before me isn't Vader…This is my father…Anakin Skywalker…as he was before, when he was still a Jedi._

"We can get you a synthetic hand, like Luke's here…" Anakin continued and looked to Luke and then back to Luke (past). "…when we reach Couresant. I know that it won't make what I did be any more forgivable…"

"Father…" Luke interrupted him, putting his hand on his shoulder and giving him a reassuring smile. Anakin turned, looking up at Luke. "I'm going to go check on Leia." Anakin nodded and then Luke headed across the courtyard to the stairs.

"Luke, wait up! I'm coming too." Han said as Luke stopped and turned to wait for him. "She may not want to talk to me, but I at least want to be nearby if she does decide she needs me." He joined Luke and then they both headed upstairs.

Lando and Chewie, who had been watching and listening to this whole time in silence, decided it was their turn to take their leave. But they weren't sure if they should leave Luke (past) alone with this man who claimed a few minutes ago that he used to be Vader. _If that's true, he could be in great danger._ Lando thought to himself. "Um, Luke." Lando started "Will you be alright if we go outside too?"

Luke (past) turned to Lando and Chewie and then back at Anakin. "It will be alright, Lando. He won't harm me. He's not Vader anymore. He's my father…Anakin Skywalker." Luke smiled at his father and Anakin smiled back at him.

Chewie growled with concern, but Lando motioned him to come with him. "Come on Chewie. If Luke says he'll be ok, he will." And with that Lando and Chewie also left the house to go outside to get some fresh air, with Anakin and Luke watching them go. _It was getting way too close in there with all this weird information coming at us all at once._ Lando thought to himself.

Chewie growled and Lando answered his question. "Yes, Chewie, it is incredible that Luke and Leia are twins." Chewie growled again and then they couldn't make out Lando's response as they disappeared up the stairs.

Luke (past) turned back to his father. "Thank you." Anakin said to him. "I hope this means that you've forgiven me?"

Luke (past) sighed. "Yes." Luke looked down to his injured arm and then back up to Anakin. "I can see that you are very sincerely sorry and…" He paused. "…seeing how you interact with Han and my future self…I'd like to have that kind of relationship with you." He then started to chuckle a little. "And you know Han. If he can forgive you, I suppose I can too."

Anakin chuckled too. "Well, he wasn't exactly very accepting of me at first. It took a little time and your sister's encouragement…to gain his trust."

"My sister…Leia. I still can't believe that." Luke (past) looked at Anakin with a smile and then became serious. "I just hope she's going to be alright. She seemed so distraught with the idea."

"She'll be alright. Her future self accepted me. But I don't think she would have if your mother hadn't told her why I turned to the Dark Side in the first place." Anakin answered him.

Luke (past) looked at Anakin with curiosity. "Why did you turn…to the Dark Side I mean?"

"Like I said, it's a long story. But to make a long story, short…I was having dreams…premonitions about your mother dying in childbirth. Palpatine insinuated to me that he could help me save her with powers learned from the Dark Side of the Force." Anakin paused. "I couldn't stand to lose her…so, in the end, I thought I was sacrificing myself to save her…But what really happened was I loss my soul, my family and anyone who ever meant anything to me. In fact, I learned later that she had been dying from a broken heart…lost the will to live…because of me…of what I did…because I turned to the Dark Side. I became someone she didn't know anymore. And it was killing her." Anakin started to tear up at the memories. "It was the worst mistake I ever made, Luke. If I could go back and do it over again, I would do it very different. I hope you believe that."

Luke (past) put his left hand on his father's shoulder. "I…I never understood why…until now." He looked at his father with concern on his face. "You did what you thought was a noble thing. And as you said, you were easily manipulated by Palpatine."

"Yes. And Luke, if we get you back to your own time…Don't give up on me…no matter what. Me being here…talking to you is proof that it's possible."

"I won't…Father." Luke (past) smiled to himself. _Father…I like the sound of that._

"Good." Anakin said as he smiled at him and then looked at the floor and then looked back up to Luke.

"But Father, you said that Mother is still alive? She didn't die?" Luke asked with anticipation.

Anakin smiled. "Yes, she is alive! Obi-Wan had her put in stasis…to keep her alive. But then to protect her and you, our children, from the Emperor, they had a funeral for her, leading everyone to believe that our child had died with her. She was put in her family's tomb on Naboo…But the tomb had been hit during an attack and I think Obi-Wan thought they had lost her. It was a miracle they found her when they were cleaning up the rubble 5 years ago."

"That's wonderful! And you said we have a new brother and sister?" Luke (past) added.

"Yes, Benjamin and Shmi. Ben is 3 and Shmi is 2 months old." Anakin answered as a proud father.

"Let me guess. You name Ben after Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, and Shmi is named after your grandmother, my mother."

Anakin continued to tell him about his life with Padme, Ben and baby Shmi. Luke asked about his grandmother and Anakin shared all his memories with him about her…and how hard it was to have left her when he was 9 to train to be a Jedi and how he tried to save her from the Sand People, but he was too late. Luke listened with interest and concern.

The more they talked, the more Luke (past) was getting to know his father in a way he never dreamed would be possible, as a loving father. _This is the man my father would have been if he hadn't turned to the Dark Side. I will keep my promise and won't give up on him if, when we get home._

-------------------------------------------

Luke and Han found Leia on the Falcon. She was lying on a bed in the sleeping quarters, crying into the pillow. Han stayed out in the hallway, as Luke entered the room and sat on the bed next to Leia. "Leia, it's not as bad as you think."

Leia looked up at Luke with tear-filled eyes. "How can you say that, Luke?" She sat up and put her arms around his neck, hugging him. "I think it's wonderful that you're my brother. I always felt we had a bond of some kind." Then she backed away from Luke, pulling her arms back into her lap and then looked away. "But…How can Vader be our father, Luke? How?"

Luke looked at her with concern. "Leia, at first, I had a hard time adjusting to the idea…but then I got this crazy idea that I could turn him back to the Light Side of the Force….and, as you can see, I did help him do that. He drove out the evil that was Darth Vader." Luke paused. "Palpatine was going to kill me when I refused to turn to the Dark Side, but Father stopped him. He killed the Emperor, sacrificing himself to save me…and also the galaxy. He's a good man now, Leia. The man he used to be…before."

"I don't know, Luke. I don't know if I can ever forgive him." Leia responded looking down to where she was playing with the blanket.

"But you did…and you will." Luke said as he put his hands on her shoulders. She reached up and hugged him again. "I'll try to forgive him, Luke. But don't expect it right away." She hesitated for a moment in thought. "He does seem very different…He actually reminds me of you a little." She said with a little chuckle and smile.

Han poked his head in the door. "So how's it going in here? Can I come in?"

Leia backed away from her embrace with Luke and wiped the tears from her eyes with her right hand. "Sure, Han. Please…come in."

"Glad to." And Han immediately entered the room. "Are you ok?"

Leia laughed a little. "Yes…or I will be." She paused, looking at him with a longing in her eyes. "I still can't believe that you're safe, Han."

"Oh, you mean from the carbonite? Yeah, well, you guys all make a great rescue team." Han said with a smile. He then became serious as Leia continued to cry and he crossed over to the room to sit on her bed as well. "I'm fine, Leia…really."

Leia reached over and put her arms around Han and they embraced as she continued to cry on his shoulder. Luke, seeing this was probably the time he should leave, got up and started to quietly leave the room.

"Hey, where you going?" Han asked him, turning his head to get a better look at him.

Luke stopped at the door and turned around. "I'm going to go check on father and…my double. To see how they're doing."

"Ok." Han answered as both Leia and Han watched him leave. Leia continued to cry on Han's shoulder as he held her close, rocking her and comforting her. "It will be ok, Leia."

---------------------------------------------------

_Hoth System_

Grand Admiral Thrawn walked into the lab, coming from his quarters on the other end of the complex. The Empire, or what was left of it after the New Republic attack of their home base in the Saleucami System 3 years ago, retreated here to try to regroup and regain their strength.

Much of the Rebel Alliance base that had been here had been destroyed when it had been attacked by the Empire 7 years ago, but they were able to rebuild most of it and turned it into a new haven for the Imperial Forces.

Thrawn was interested in what the scientists had found out about a piece of technology that they unearthed at Mt. Tantiss. The New Republic had sent bombs to finish off the complex before they left 3 years ago, but Thrawn went back with storm troopers to see if anything had survived the attack. He was still in hopes that he could find a weapon there to use against the New Republic.

At first, their search seemed hopeless. They found what looked like the remains of almost fully grown clones of various people, but their pods had been destroyed in the explosion and they parrished. DNA tests ran on the clones they found proved to be quite interesting and Thrawn was saddened that he couldn't have used some of them to his advantage. Toping the list of those cloned were the Emperor himself, Luke Skywalker and even Anakin Skywalker. _I could have used the Luke and Anakin Skywalker clones to make people lose trust in them. What a loss._

But he wasn't here at the lab about the clones. He was there to discover the secrets of this piece of technology that he hoped would be a new form of weapon. When he entered the lab, one of the scientists looked up at him.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn, what brings you here?" The scientist said as he walked over to him and shook his hand.

"I'm here to find out how you are coming with that piece of equipment we found in Mt. Tantiss."

"Well…We haven't determined what it is yet. But we did manage to turn it on." The scientist responded.

"And…what happened?" Thrawn asked, looking at him with anticipation.

"We're not sure, Sir."

"You're not sure?" Thrawn's eyebrowl went up.

"No, sir. Some kind of pulse came from it, but we haven't been able to determine what that pulse was exactly."

Thrawn folded his hands in front of him and put his right hand on his chin, rubbing it. "Hmm. Well, Doctor. Keep working on it…and keep me updated on your progress."

"Yes, sir." The scientist said and bowed to him.

Thrawn headed back towards the doors and pushed the button to open in it. He headed back down the hall to his quarters. He had just received a new holographic representation of the artwork of Naboo and he wanted to study it. That was the planet the Emperor was from originally; and perhaps by studying it, he thought he could find out more about the Emperor, himself, that might help them solve the purpose of this mysterious technology.

---------------------------------------

_Tatoonine_

The visitors, feeling somewhat uncomfortable about what happened that night, decided to sleep on the Falcon, while Han, Anakin and Luke stayed in the Lars home.

Anakin hadn't been able to sleep for most of the night. He laid in bed looking at the ceiling. He could hear Han's loud snoring coming from his room too, which didn't help matter either. He tried pulling the blanket up over his head to deafen the noise, but it didn't work. Eventually, he realized, that he did finally drift off to sleep because he was awaken by the sound of metal, hitting rock.

His eyes popped open and he sat up, looking around. Luke, who had been sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room, was gone. Anakin threw the blanket off of him and turned to put his bare feet on the cold, stone floor. He put his elbows on his knees and rubbed his eyes, still hearing the pounding coming from outside.

Anakin quickly got dressed and, after not seeing anyone inside, went upstairs to see what all the noise was about. When he walked out of the dome, he turned to see Luke and Han pounding what looked like grave markers into the ground; and he walked over to them.

"What's going on?" Anakin asked while noticing that, indeed, they were grave markers for his mother and Cliegg Lars.

Han and Luke stopped their shoveling and pounding and turned to watch as Anakin approached them. "Han had these made when he was in Anchorhead yesterday." Luke told him.

"You did?" Anakin said while looking at Han with surprise and gratitude.

"Yeah, that's why I was late getting back last night. I saw this grave monument shop on the way out of town and decided to stop." Han paused leaned on the hammer he had been using and looked at the markers like he was reading them. "I hope the spelling is right. The engraver seemed to know your family, so I'm hoping so."

"It's perfect, Han." Anakin answered him with a weak smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Han with a smile. "I was glad to do it."

Anakin paused. "Have you had breakfast yet?" He asked.

"No, not yet. We were waiting for you to get up." Luke answered him while leaning on the shovel.

"I can go start it while you finish." Anakin said and started to turn to leave.

"Actually, we're done." Han said as he picked up the large hammer to carry it over his shoulder. "We'll follow you down."

Anakin, Han and Luke walked back to the dome entrance of the home, just as the visitors emerged from the Falcon. The trio turned and waited as they approached.

"We were wondering when you are planning to leave for Couresant?" Luke (past) asked them as they arrived at the entrance to the house.

"After breakfast." Anakin answered him. "I'll need to call Couresant and let your mother know you're all coming. This will certainly be a surprise to her and I want to prepare her."

The visitors nodded in agreement and followed the three men into the home.

"I hope you're a good cook, Anakin. Because I'm starving." Han said.

Anakin laughed. "I wouldn't count on that, Han. That is unless you like your breakfast burnt. Just ask Padme."

"I'll cook." Luke jumped in.

"Thank the Force!" Han replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_Couresant_

"My Lady, there is a comm call from Tatooine for you from Master Anakin." Sylvia said as she entered Padme's bedroom and opened the blinds.

Padme who had just been lying in bed, appreciating the quiet until Shmi woke up, quickly got up from the bed, throwing the covers back and pulling her robe on as she headed for the living room where their comm station is. She sat at the desk and pushed the button to accept the call and a blue holographic image of Anakin appeared before her. "Anakin, how is your vacation going?" She asked him with a smile. "I'm missing you."

"It certainly has been interesting trip, Padme." He said with a weak smile.

"Interesting? In what way?" Padme now had a curious look on her face.

"Well…you're not going to believe this but…"

"Father!" Ben came running into the living room, hearing his father's voice on the comm. Padme picked him up and put him on her lap so he could see his father better.

"Hey, Ben. Have you been minding your mother and Syliva?"

"Yes, Father." Ben answered. "Did you buy me presents on Tatooine?"

Anakin cursed under his breath. _I forgot about that. We'll have to get him something before we leave._ "Not yet. But we will before we leave. Ok, Ben?"

"Ok Father." As Ben got down from his mother's lap and then went over to the toy chest to get out some toy speeders to play with. He started playing with them, making engine noises. "Vrrrroooom." And pretending to fly them, by running around the room.

Padme turned towards Ben's direction. "Quiet down, Ben. I'm still trying to talk to your father." Padme scolded.

"Ok, Mother." Ben pouted and then sat down on the floor, making quieter engine noises.

Then they heard baby Shmi starting to cry in the background. "I've got it My Lady." Sylvia said as she headed back towards the baby's room.

"Got everything under control there, Padme?" Anakin asked with a smirk.

"Yes, I do...and what were we talking about? Oh yes…You didn't forget, did you? About those gifts you promised Ben?" Padme asked teasingly. "He's been so excited about it since you left. You aren't going to disappoint him, are you?"

Anakin got a sheepish grin on his face. _Not in front of Ben, Padme._ "Eh…hem…Well…first of all, let's get one thing straight. It was brother Luke who said we would be bringing him gifts. And, no, we will not disappoint him. We will make sure we get him some gifts before we leave today. Is everything almost ready for his birthday party next week?"

"Wait! Anakin. Did you just say you are leaving today?" Padme asked with concern.

"Uh…yes." Anakin paused. "Yeah…something's come up."

"What's wrong, Anakin?"

Anakin went on to explain their encounter with the time travelers and the mission that has been presented to them to get them back to their own time. Padme listened with concern and interest. It seemed quite impossible to her but nothing surprised her any more. So many strange things had happened to them that she became to believe anything was possible. When he was done explaining she sat in thought for a moment.

"Anakin, these past versions of Luke and Leia…Do they know who you were?" Padme finally asked with concern.

"Yes. They were told last night. They weren't exactly happy about it at first. But I think they're starting to accept it, especially Luke since he already found out Vader was his father." He paused. "Leia, on the other hand, is taking it rather hard; but she's starting to come around a little."

"That's good." Padme weaking smiled.

"But she's excited to meet you, Padme, since she has faint memories or 'feelings' as she calls them of you."

"I'll be happy to meet with her too. I'll try to help her the best I can to come with terms with all of this."

"Thank you, Padme. I love you. And I'll see you soon."

"Don't you want to say good-bye to Ben?" Padme said with a smile.

"Oh yes. Ben, can you hear me?" Anakin shouted and Ben ran back over to the comm.

"Yes, Father." He said, now standing next to his mother.

"We'll be home tomorrow, Ben. And, yes, we'll be bringing your presents…but you won't be able to open them until your birthday."

"Awwwww."

Anakin tried not to snicker at how cute his son was being. He didn't want Ben to think he was happy, when he was so disappointed he had to wait to open his birthday presents. "Good-bye, Ben. I'll see you soon."

"Ok, Father."

"Anakin, see you tomorrow." Padme said as she blew him a kiss.

Anakin smiled and then he was gone.

------------------------------------------------

_Tatooine_

"That was an interesting conversation." Leia said as she entered the room Anakin had made the call to Couresant from. "Sorry…" She looked at Anakin cautiously, not knowing how he'd react. "I didn't mean to ease drop. I was just walking by and…"

Anakin turned to face her with a smile on his face.. "Not to worry, Leia. And, yes, as you can see, I've been domesticated." He said with a grin.

Leia couldn't help but smile and laugh to herself. _I can't believe it! Darth Vader a family man. But…no…it's not Vader…It's Anakin Skywalker…my father. My father…_ She crossed her arms and looked away from him, not knowing what else to say.

Anakin watched her with curiosity. Over breakfast, she had become more open to him than he had expected. She asked him questions about her mother…like what she was like and if she, as her daughter, reminded me of Padme. She seemed quite excited at the possibility of going with us back to Couresant to meet her. Although, she would become distant again, pulling away from him emotionally again just as he thought he was making progress with her. _We have a long way to go yet._ Anakin thinks to himself.

Anakin watched as his daugher struggled with her emotions. He wanted to hug her, to comfort her…but wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. "So…" Anakin finally said. "…since you overheard my conversation with your mother, you also know that we have to make a quick stop on our way back to Mos Eisley to pick up the Falcon." He smiled.

Leia turned back to her father with a confused look on her face. "But the Falcon is just…" She paused and put her head down. "Oh, you mean the one that you flew here. The present day version of the Falcon."

"Yes. And you're brother, Luke, made a promise to your little brother, Ben, that we can't break. So we need to make a stop in Mos Eisley and do a little shopping." He smiled.

Leia looked at him with a look of puzzlement on her face. _He seems so noble and loving…How could this man be Vader?_ Leia noticed her father still looking at her in thought and looked back at him with curiosity. "Luke and Han talked to me about you last night…about how you are now." She paused. "And the more I'm around you, as you are now, it's hard to imaging you ever being…." She cringed. "…Darth Vader."

Anakin looked down to his hands that he then noticed he'd been nervously twisting and then back up to his daughter with concern.

"Hey! How did the call go with Mother?" Luke said as he approached the room, putting his hand on the door casing.

They both looked in Luke's direction and Anakin smirked at him, crossing his arms in front of him. "Well…it went quite well and she is looking forward to our return...But…my son…we…actually you…promised a little boy some presents from Tatooine."

Luke gasped, putting his right hand up to his mouth. "I totally forgot."

"I know you did. And so did I. So we'll have to stop in Mos Eisley on the way back to the Falcon. And we better get going." Anakin said as he walked passed Luke out into the sun-filled courtyard. Luke and Leia followed.

They started packing up all their things back into the speeder as the visitors prepared their Falcon to leave. Leia was still somewhat uncomfortable about being around Anakin, so she decided to stay with Lando and Chewie. But Luke (past) decided he wanted to stay with his father during the trip back to Mos Eisley in the speeder and during the trip to Couresant.

Lando told them that they would go ahead and wait for them in orbit. Saying their farwells, they all boarded the Falcon and took off with a rumble, leaving the rest of them in the desert, to travel to Mos Eisley by speeder.

After they were done packing, they all climbed into the speeder. All but Anakin, who walked over to his mother's grave one last time before departing. "I'm trying to make you proud of me again, Mother." He said as a tear came down his cheek as he stood in reverance in front of her new grave marker.. "Good-bye, Mother."

As he turned to leave, he noticed he had an audience. Luke (past), especially was watching him with curiosity and concern. As Anakin climbed into the back seat with him, Luke (past) flinched a little. He still, at times, during the morning, acted like he wasn't totally comfortable being around him. _I suppose he still is having a hard time accepting all this._ Anakin thought to himself. _I'll just have to give him space and hope he'll relax the more we get to know each other, like he did later._

Luke turned the speeder towards Mos Eisley. The hour long ride was mostly made in silence. Luke (past) looked over the landscape and at time would look over to Anakin, not knowing what to say. Anakin could tell that he was still struggling with the fact that Darth Vader is his father, even though he said he had forgiven him. It still hurt for him to know that his father had been such a monster.

When the arrived in Mos Eisley, they looked around for a shop where they could buy some gifts for little Ben, while Han continued on to the Falcon to get her ready to leave. Luke (past) watched in awe as his father turned into a man in touch with his inner-child, as he looked through the various shops for gifts for his young son, Ben. He smiled to himself and was starting to feel pride in having such a father, so noble and brave, yet so vulnerable when it came to his family. _It's too bad Leia isn't here to see this side of him._ Luke (past) thought to himself.

When they finally found a couple of toys that both Anakin and Luke thought Ben would like, they purchased them and some wrapping paper, then headed back to the hanger where the Falcon sat, waiting for them.

Luke (past) entered the hanger and looked around. The last time he'd been here was with Ben, or Obi-Wan, when they were trying to escape with the plans for the Death Star. A feeling of déjà vu came over him as he saw Han working on something on the outside of the ship, but then snapped out of it when he saw his father and his future self approach Han and ask him if the Falcon was ready to go. "You coming, Luke." Han said to him, bringing Luke (past) out of his reverie.

They all boarded and went to sit in the cockpit as the Falcon roared to life, taking them to orbit. Luke (past) and Anakin were both sitting in the back seats, and Luke (past) looked over at his father. _How strange to have him on board the Falcon, when he'd always been in pursuit of it._

The rendevued with the other Falcon in orbit over Tatooine and almost immediately were off to Couresant, with trails of stars speeding passed them. _Soon we'll be on Couresant…and we'll get to see the future of the galaxy, the New Republic, the New Jedi Order, and…Mother. _The thought of meeting his mother brought joy to Luke's (past) heart.

--------------------------------------------

_Couresant_

As they entered the lift that went to their parents apartment, Luke (past) and Leia were getting extremely nervous. Han went to see his wife, Chancellor Organa-Solo, as soon as they touched down, a thought that made Leia (past) blush, that Han and she would have a future together as husband and wife.

Lando and Chewie decided to stay with their Falcon for the time being, not entirely sure where they fit into all of this; but Anakin insisted that they at least come for dinner later that night, and they agreed somewhat hesitantly…seeing as it was Vader asking. At least, that was how they still saw it, still not grasping the idea of Anakin and Vader being two different entities. But Chewie was game for anything that included food and Lando actually was beginning to like Anakin, despite everything he knew about him, which surprised him.

As the doors opened to Anakin and Padme's apartment, Luke (past) and Leia (past) looked in awe as they saw there mother standing there waiting for them. She was more beautiful than they could ever imagine.

Anakin immediately got off of the lift and walked over to his wife, embracing and kissing her. The others followed and the doors shut behind them. Luke had the gifts they had bought little Ben in his hands; and, of course, being the observant little boy that he is, ran over to Luke immediately, catching Luke (past) and Leia (past) by surprise as he ran passed them.

"Luke, are those my presents?" Ben asked with a big smile on his face and then turned to look at the other Luke with confusion. "Luke, there are two of you." He said as he looked at Luke (past) with awe. Luke wasn't sure how to answer him.

"Come here, kiddo." Anakin said while squatting down and holding out his arms to him. Ben ran into his father's arms and Anakin picked him up. "Why don't we go check on Shmi while your mother talks to everyone. Ok?"

"Ok, Father." Ben said as Anakin carried him back towards the baby's room with Ben looking over his father's shoulder, still in confusion over seeing two Lukes.

Luke (past) and Leia (past) watched him leave with amusment. "He certainly is a cute little boy." Leia (past) says to her mother.

"Yes and he's so much like his father. It's scary." Padme answered her.

Leia's smile quickly faded at her mother's remark. _Another Darth Vader?_ She started to get a look of horror on her face.

"Leia, what's the matter?" Padme looked at her with concern.

"You'll have to excuse Leia, Mother." Luke said. "She's still having hard time accepting Father."

Padme turned to the past version of her daughter and smiled at her. "You'll learn to forgive him, as I did, Leia." She then put her arms around her daughter and Leia hugged her back, starting to cry. She had lost her adopted mother at a young age, and it felt good to be in the arms of her real mother. The mother she never really knew. Leia started to cry. "I love you, Mother."

"I love you too, Leia." Padme said as she continued to hold her in her arms, comforting her.

Luke (past) looked on with a smile. _This is their mother. _Sensing Luke's (past) eyes on her, Padme looked over Leia's shoulder at him and smiled. She reached out with one of her hands to Luke (past), who took her hand in his left hand and smiled back at her. Leia let go over her embrace and wiped a tear from her eye. Padme then embraced the past version of her son Luke, knowing that he, too, was still hurting.

Luke smiled on and then moved farther into the apartment, putting Ben's presents on the café table, and sat down on the couch. He'd been there, where they were. Still trying to accept Vader as his father, and then struggle with trying to accept and forgive his father as Anakin Skywalker. Then he snapped out of it and decide to go see his little sister too. So he got up and headed back towards the baby's room.

Padme led the past versions of her children over to the living room and they all sat down around the café table where Luke had just been. They continued to talk and get to know each other, as Anakin and Luke played with Ben and Shmi in Shmi's room. They thought they would give them a chance to spend time with Padme alone…the mother they never knew.

--------------------------------------------

_Hoth System_

Thrawn had made his rounds around the complex on Hoth, as he did every day, when an officer came up with him. "Sir, Dr. Garrett has just informed me that they think they know what the device is and has requested your presence in the lab."

"Lead the way, Lieutenant." Thrawn answeres him and they head towards the lab. As they enter, the scientist, Dr. Garrett, who he had spoken to earlier, had a huge smile on his face.

"Grand Admiral Thrawn." He said and bowed. "I believe we know what this device is for."

Thrawn waited in anticipation as the doctor gathered his thoughts. "Well…what is it?" Thrawn asked.

"We believe it is used to travel through time, Sir."

"Through time?" Thrawn got an evil smile on his face. "We could find many uses for this doctor. Good job. Have you figured out how to get it to work?"

The doctor paused a moment and sighed, looking at the floor. "No…not yet. But we're close, Sir."

"Very well…carry on Dr. Garrett." And Thrawn turned to leave, walking down the hall back towards his quarters.

_Well…well…If we can get this working, I'll be able to make good use of this. Anakin Skywalker is too well protected now and too strong in the Light Side of Force to try to kill now. But perhaps I can send an assassin back in time and kill Vader at his weakest moment, during the time when he was searching for his son, Luke Skywalker. I heard rumors that he was quite off balance then and will be too preoccupied to even suspect that an assassin was after him. And I'd be able to wipe him out before he returns to the Light Side of the Force. Yes… _Thrawn laughed to himself. _Vader won't be saving his son by killing the Emperor. Because he won't be there…if I can help it. _He laughed again. _ There will be no second chance for you, Anakin Skywalker, and the Emperor…the Empire… will live on as it once did…before you interfered._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Couresant_

Luke was quietly playing with Ben on the floor with his toy speeders and Anakin was holding Shmi, trying rocking her to sleep, when they heard a knock on the door. They looked up just in time to see Padme in the doorway, smiling at the scene in front of her.

"You two look like you're having fun." She commented as they smiled back at her.

Anakin smiled at his wife and put his index finger up to his mouth. "Shh…She's almost asleep." Padme walked over to Anakin and they both looked down at their baby daughter, who had just drifted off. Anakin carefully got up from the rocking chair and walked over to the crib and carefully placed Shmi in it. Padme followed him and they both smiled down at her.

"Ani, I couldn't help but notice that the younger version of Luke is injured. Why didn't you take him to the medical clinic before coming here?" Padme said looking up at her husband with concern.

Anakin looked down at his wife. "I tried to get him to go when we arrived, but insisted on coming here first."

"Well, I think you should take him now."

Anakin smiled down at his wife and then put his right hand behind her head, then moved down to her lips to kiss her. He backed out of the kiss and looked lovingly into her eyes. "I'll take him right now."

"Good." Padme smiled back at him.

Luke who had been watching this from the floor with Ben, smiled up at them. "I'll go too if you like Father."

Anakin took his eyes off of his beautiful wife for a moment and looked down to where his sons were sitting on the floor and thought for a moment, his face turning to one of concern. "I don't know, Luke. I think if I show up with two Lukes, they'll be a lot of questions."

"Can I go?" Ben spoke up.

Anakin and Padme smiled at him. "No, Ben. We'll be sitting in a waiting room a long time and I don't think you'd like it very much."

"But I want to be with you." Ben responded while his parents looked at him with loving concern.

Luke smiled over at his brother. "We can both stay here and have some fun. What do you say, Ben?"

"Awwww." But Ben thought about it for a minute, looking to Luke, then to his Father, then back to Luke. "Ohhh, Ok, Luke." He pouted.

Just then, little Shmi started to stir and fuss a little and Padme and Anakin looked back into the crib. She'd enjoyed being in her father's arms and was upset he put her down, Anakin sensed, so he picked her up again and began rocking her in his arms. "Why don't we take Shmi out to the livingroom, so Luke and Leia can see her?" Anakin suggested.

"Yes, Leia, especially, expressed an interest in seeing her. I think they'd like that." Padme responded. So Anakin and Padme left Luke and Ben in the baby's room, to head to the livingroom with Shmi.

Luke (past) and Leia (past) looked up with surprise as their parents entered the room. They were touched by the fact that their father was carrying Shmi in his arms. "Your Mother said you were both interested in seeing Shmi." Anakin said to them with a smile, looking down at her lovingly and then back up to his other children.

"Yes." Leia said. "May I hold her?"

"Certainly." Anakin said with a smile, then walked over to Leia (past) and carefully placed Shmi in her arms. Leia immediately smiled down at the little baby girl as Anakin backed away. Padme sat down next to Leia (past) and also started to fuss over Shmi.

Anakin then looked over to where Luke (past) was sitting. Luke (past) was looking on with a smile on his face. "She looks like Leia and Mother." He said as he turned his attention back to his father.

"Yes, she does." Anakin said as he smiled at his son. But then he got a look of concern on his face. "Luke, I think we should have that arm of your's looked at and let them give you an artificial one."

Luke (past) looked up at his father and then clutched his injured arm. "Yes. I suppose I should now." And he got up from the couch. "When shall we go?"

"We can go now, if you like." Anakin responded. "The sooner we get that looked at the better. I know you had some temporary care given to it before you got to Tatooine, but I'd feel better if a doctor looks at it."

Luke (past) nodded at his father. "Yes. We can go now."

Anakin turned to the ladies sitting on the couch, fussing over Shmi, and tried to get their attention. "I'm going to take Luke to the medical clinic." The ladies looked up at him and Padme smiled, while Leia looked over at Luke (past) with concern. "Yes." Padme answered him. "Do you think you will be back in time for dinner? Lando and Chewie are coming, remember."

Anakin smiled. "We should. If not, I'll call you on the comm." And Padme nodded.

Luke (past) followed Anakin to the turbo lift and they both got on. Anakin looked over to his son, who was looking at the floor and clutching his arm. "Luke, you've been rather quiet. Do you want to talk about it?" Anakin looked at him with concern.

Luke (past) looked over to his father, not knowing what to say. He sighed. "No…well…yes…This is just too strange for me. I just found out that Vader, Sith Lord, is my father; and then I meet you…my father as Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. I'm just having a hard time trying to separate the two, is all." He looked up at his father with a hint of fear and hurt in his eyes. Anakin continued to listen in silence. "I realize that you have changed. I see that…but…"

"But…the events on Bespin are still fresh in your mind." Anakin put his hand on Luke's (past) shoulder as Luke looked to the floor. "I understand if you're uncomfortable around me."

Luke (past) looked back up at his father just as the lift reached the hanger bay of the apartment building and the doors opened. "It's not that…I do feel comfortable around you, and that's what frightens me." Luke said as they walked off the turbo lift and stopped to face each other.

Anakin put both hands on Luke's (past) shoulders and looked at him as Luke looked down. "Luke, what exactly is it about you that frightens you about me?"

Luke (past) looked back up at him. "I don't know, really." Then he thought a moment, while looking away and then back again. "I guess…it's a feeling of will you turn to the Dark Side again and then I'll lose you again as my father, Anakin Skywalker. I'm afraid if I get too close to you, then I'll end up being hurt again."

Anakin looked at his son with concern and then smiled. "You don't have to worry. I'm not going to turn back to the Dark Side."

"But what happens when, or if, we get back to our own time? There, you are still Vader."

Anakin took Luke (past) into his arms and hugged him. His eyes tearing up as he looks over his son's shoulder. "I will turn back to the Light Side of the Force. You'll just have to be patient." He then backed out of his embrace and looked into his sons eyes. "Like I said before, don't give up on me, no matter how hopeless it seems. Will you still promise me that."

Luke (past) nodded. "Yes. I've seen how our future will be with you and Mother. I want that."

"Good. Now let's get going." Anakin said as he looked around for his classic yellow speeder. "Follow me." Both men got into the speeder and Anakin started it up.

"This is a really nice speeder, Father. How old is it? Is it pre-Empire."

Anakin smiled over at his son as he turned and put his arm on the back of the front seat so he could see to back up out of the parking spot. "Yes. I drove one like this once and when I saw it at the dealer, I just couldn't resist. I always had a thing for yellow vehicles. My Jedi fighter was yellow too." He brought the speeder to a stop and then put it in forward gear.

Luke (past) smiled at him as Anakin cautiously drove out into the daylight. The sun was high in the sky and very bright, so Anakin stopped the speeder and grabbed his sunglasses from the counsel, putting them on. Luke (past) gave him a weird look.

"What?" Anakin asked with concern.

"Oh nothing." Luke (past) paused as Anakin looked on with concern. "Well…actually…the sunglasses just took me by surprise." He pointed to his own eyes, like he was trying to outline them. "You know…the eye lenses in Vader's mask."

That took Anakin by surprise. _I hadn't thought about that._ "I'll take them off if they bother you." He said as he started to take them off."

"No. It's ok. The sun is bright today and you'll need them so you can see better." Luke (past) responded.

"Are you sure?" Anakin said as he pushed them back on his nose.

"I'm sure."

"Ok. If you're ok with it." And then Anakin drove the speeder out into the busy Couresant traffic.

They sat in silence for a few minutes while Luke (past) watched the passing traffic. He was wondering how different this planet was from when the Empire was in control and, prior to that, the Old Republic. Then he thought about the stories Obi-Wan told him about the Jedi Order. Luke (past) turned back to his father who was watching the skyway ahead of them. "On Tatooine, you said something about you and…err…I have been re-establishing the Jedi Order. Can I see the Temple?"

Anakin looked over to his son and smiled, then turned to look back out the windshield. "Yes. I can take you there tomorrow."

"I'd like that." Luke (past) said as he smiled back at his father and also turned back to look out the window.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at the medical center and Anakin parked the speeder in the hanger. They got out and went inside, where they were greeted by a medical droid. "May I help you?"

"Yes, my son needs medical attention. He has lost his hand and needs an artificial one." Anakin answered the droid.

"Very well. Follow me." The droid answered and Luke (past) followed the droid back into the clinic. He looked back at his father just before going through the door and Anakin smiled at him for assurance.

Anakin went over to the couch in the waiting area and sat down. He picked up the controller for the holovid, and started to flip through the channels. An old lady, who was sitting in the waiting area reading a holobook, gave him a dirty look when he turned the volume up to hear the preliminary qualifying for the pod race at Boonta Eve. Sensing her eyes on him and sensing why she was irritated with him, he sheepishly smiled at her and then turned down the sound. He then leaned back to continue watching during his wait.

The next thing Anakin knew, he was he was being nudged in the arm. He had fallen asleep. He looked over to where the old lady had been in a daze, not quite remembering where he was. He still heard the engine noises from racing pods coming from the holovid when he turned and squinted as he look up at Luke (past) smiling down at him. "You went to sleep." Luke (past) said to him.

Anakin yawned and stretched his arms. "I guess I did." He then looked down to look at his chrono, but then realized it wasn't there. He'd left it at home. _Blast!_ He thought as he cupped his left wrist with right hand. "What time is it?"

"Time for dinner. We should get back." Luke (past) responded. He then held up his new right hand. "What do you think?"

Anakin looked at his son's new artificial hand. "I can't even tell the difference. It looks so real."

"That's what I was thinking. It even moves just like my own hand." Luke said as wiggled his fingers and smiled down at his father.

"That's wonderful." Anakin said with a smile and then he became serious. Luke (past) knew what he was thinking.

"It's ok, Father."

Anakin looked down to the floor and then back up at Luke (past), weakly smiling. "Well…ok…" He paused. "We better get home." Anakin said as he stood and stretched.

They drove back to the apartment and arrived at the same time as Chewie and Lando. R2 and 3PO were also with them, which puzzed Anakin because he never saw them on Tatooine. But he found out later that 3PO had insisted on staying on board the Falcon because he said "the sand would cause his joints to freeze up". Anakin laughed to himself. _And to think Tatooine is where 3PO started his life._

Han arrived a little later. He apologized for Leia, stating that she had some senate dinner to attend and couldn't get out of it because of her position as Chancellor. Although, she told Han to tell her father that she is willing to meet him at the Jedi Temple the next day, figuring that Luke (past) would probably want to see it. And then they could all meet to discuss the problem of getting the visitors back to their own time.

Padme had also been invited to the senate dinner; but she declined to spend the evening with her family, which the time traveling visitors were happy about.

So they group could talk together more freely, Sylvia offered to take the children out to dinner at Dex's, which Anakin and Padme were greatful for. They couldn't very well be discussing serious matters with constant distractions from their kids. They loved them very much and loved being around them, but they wanted to give their visitors their full attention.

They were all sitting around the dining room table eating when Han spoke up. "Hey." Han said as he was handed a dish to pass. "I have a question. How is it I'm still here and so are Luke and Leia…" Han then pointed to Luke (past) and Leia (past) "…when they're here? I mean…they're suppose to rescue me from Jabba."

"That's a good question." Lando added.

Anakin thought about it for a moment trying to remember details from reports he read about the Emperor's time travel experiments to come up with a possible explanation. Then he remembered.

"That IS a good question, Han." Anakin said as he put down his fork and looked at Han. "I remember something from a report I read on the Emperor's experiments which said something about time being a constant. Since we're all here and nothing seems to have changed that we know of…" He looked back at the time travelers. "…that means that you will all make it back to your own time. Although, the question is how?" He said as he picked up his fork and started to eat again.

"Do you think you could somehow access those reports?" Luke said as he turned to his right to look at his father.

"I think so. They should be at the Imperial Palace still." He turned to Padme. "You don't happen to know if the Senate has done anything with the archives there, do you?"

Padme stopped in mid-motion as she was about to put her fork in her mouth and put her arm back on the table. She looked to her left to where her husband was sitting. "Not that I'm aware of." She thought for a moment. "I know they did try getting into some of the records at one time, but they weren't able to access them."

Anakin looked at her with confusion. "Why didn't they ask me about it? I had top-level clearance when I was Vader. I could have helped them."

"I don't know." Padme responded. "Although, I know this happened some time before everyone knew you had been Darth Vader. Why they never approached you later…I don't know." She paused and shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps they just hadn't thought about it."

"That seems unlikely. But I suppose it's possible." Anakin responded. "Well…We should go over there tonight and see what we can find out. I sense that Thrawn has possibly figured out what he has and, if or when he does find out, he's going to have plans for it. So that means we're going to have to work quickly…to find out what we can about the device and where Thrawn is hiding it."

The visitors watched and listened to this conversation with awe. _This is all way too weird. _They were all thinking to themselves.

Luke (past) spoke up. "Who is this Thrawn? I don't remember you mentioning him." The other visitors were also wondering about this and waiting an anticipation for the answer.

Anakin looked over a the visitors. "Grand Admiral Thrawn, is a Chiss who took over control of the Empire after Palpatine's death. He was in charge of the Empire's territory in the Outer Rim Territories and is a very cunning strategist. The last confrontation the New Republic had with him was 3 years ago, which weakened the Empire considerably. We haven't seen or heard from the Empire since."

"The Empire still exists?" Leia (past) asked with shock.

"Yes." Anakin continued. "And if we don't stop Thrawn from using the time travel device, he could alter the past so the Empire will still be in power. So we have to prevent him from doing that and, at the same time, send you back to your own time so you can keep history on track."

"And if we don't get back?" Lando asked.

"That could be very bad." Anakin responded. "As I said, you have to keep history on track. The four of you and the droids play a big part in the Rebel Alliance's victory, so we cannot fail."

"Do you think Thrawn knows about our guests from the past being here?" Padme asked with concern. "You haven't mentioned that."

Anakin closed his eyes and reached out into the Force. He could sense Thrawn, sense that he has indeed discovered the nature of the device, but doesn't know how to operate it yet. He searched deeper into the Force, not sensing any recognition from Thrawn to the existence of the visitors from the past. He opened his eyes to see everyone patiently and eagerly waiting for an answer from him. "No. I don't sense that he knows about them." They all sighed with relief.

"So how did we get here?" Luke (past) asked. "If he doesn't know about us?"

"Perhaps your journey here was the result of an accident or perhaps from them just experimenting with the device to find out what it is?" Luke suggested to his double.

"That's possible." Anakin said.

"Well…it certainly sounds like you should get to the bottom of this and quickly." Padme chimed in. She looked at her husband and then around the table at the other. She started to tear up a little. "I don't want to lose all of you and all that we've worked so hard for."

Anakin looked to his wife and weakly smiled at her, putting his right hand on her left for reassurance. "We'll find a way to stop him, Padme."

Padme put her other hand on top of Anakin's and looked lovingly at him. "I know you will. I have faith in you." She then turned to the others at the table. "In all of you."

After they finished eating dinner, they left both 3POs to clean up the dishes and put the leftovers away. They all thought it was humorous the way both the 3POs interacted with each other, getting on each other's nerves.

Sylvia had returned with the children and put them to bed, so Padme and Anakin went into their rooms and kissed them both goodnight and then joined the others in the livingroom.

As soon as they returned to the livingroom, Padme went over to the commlink and called ahead to let the guards at the old Imperial Palace know that they were coming. Then the entire group, including Padme, decided to go there together, thinking the more people looking the faster they'll find the answers. So they all got onto the turbo lift and headed for the hanger below for their speeders.

_I sure hope we find out something quickly._ Anakin thought to himself. He sensed that Thrawn was getting VERY close to discovering how to use the device and time was running out. He didn't want to worry the others, but he looked over to Luke who looked a little on edge too. _Perhaps he's sensing it too._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

As they approached the front entrance of the old Imperial Palace, they were greeted by some New Republic guards, who upon recognizing who they were, allowed them to pass. The continued into the palace, following Anakin as he led them through the vast maze of hallways until he stopped just outside a door at the end of a hall.

Anakin turned to the others. "Here we are. This is the archive room." He reached up to a panel on the wall to the right of the door and entered Vader's passcode, which opened it. They all walked into the high-ceilinged room, looking around at the equipment and vast amounts of holobooks located there.

Anakin looked for a computer counsel and went directly over to it to enter his passcode again…But this time it wasn't accepted. "Blast!" Anakin said as he tried entering it again, thinking perhaps he just entered it wrong. It still didn't work.

"What's wrong?" Padme asked as she came up beside him, putting her hand on his right arm and looking up at him with concern.

"It's not accepting my passcode." Anakin said with frustration. "The Emperor must have changed my security clearance just before he was killed." He turned to look down at Padme with concern. "He was starting to suspect that I was turning against him after I found out about Luke."

Padme looked down at the screen Anakin was looking at. "Try it again." She suggested.

"Why?" Anakin said with confusion. "I just tried it two times and it didn't let me in."

"Please, Anakin. Just try it one more time." Padme pleaded as the others looked on.

"Ok." Anakin sighed, turning back to look at the computer screen, and then tried entering his passcode again. But this time the computer beeped and different message, other than 'Access Denied' came up on the screen. Anakin looked at it with puzzlement and read it aloud. "Error. Must enter two Imperial Codes simultaneously to enter system."

He turned to look at Padme with confusion and then turned to look at the rest of his family. "This is new. Although, this would explain how I was able to get us in this room, but why my passcode isn't working to access the archive computer." He looked back down at Padme. "How did you know this message would come up on the third try?"

Padme looked up at him and blushed. "If I forget my passcode for my computer at the office, an additional error message comes up on the third try to tell me what I'm doing wrong." She sheepishly smiled at him. "Lucky guess."

Anakin shook his head, smiled and then kissed Padme on the forehead. "Well, thank you. I would have given up and then we wouldn't have ever found this out." He paused, looking around at the rest of his family. "But where do we find another person with Imperial code clearance at this hour?"

"How about Peitt?" Luke asked. "He's currently on Couresant."

"No. He didn't have high enough security clearance to access the reports we need to find." Anakin responded.

"What about Mara Jade?" Han suggested. "Wasn't she the 'Emperor's Hand' or something like that?"

Everyone looked at Han like he was a genius. "She's perfect, Han. But is she on Couresant?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, I just spoke with her and Karrde before coming to your place tonight." Han responded as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, putting his right hand on his hip. "Do you want me to try calling her?"

"Yes, definitely." Anakin said.

"Wait! Anakin…" Padme started as she looked up at her husband with concern. "Didn't you tell me she almost killed you and Luke at Mt. Tantiss? Can she be trusted?"

"Yes. She can be trusted. She also helped save our lives, remember?" Anakin reminded her.

"Yes she did, Mother." Luke added as he came closer to where his parents were standing.

"Ok, then. I'll call her." Han said as he approached the comm to the right of the computer council. He tried turning it on but nothing was happening. "Hey this won't work either. It says it needs some sort of passcode too."

"Here…let me try mine." Anakin said as walked over to the computer keyboard and started entering his passcode again. This time it did accept it. "There…go ahead and call her."

Han started pushing buttons until the familiar sound of Mara Jade's voice came over the comm link's speakers. "This is Mara Jade."

"Hey Mara. It's Han Solo." He said while leaning over the microphone with both hands on the counsel.

"Han, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon after running into you earlier today." Mara said. "What's going on?"

"Well…we have a little bit of a problem that we need help with." He looked up at Anakin. "Do you want to ask her, Anakin?"

"Is that Anakin Skywalker with you?" Mara asked hearing Han's question.

"Yes, the whole family is here and Lando and Chewie." Han said as he looked around the room and then realized that his Leia is missing. "Well…almost everyone."

"Mara." Anakin interjected as Han stepped away from the microphone. "We're at the Imperial Palace and need your Imperial passcode to get into some archive files we need. Would you be willing to help us?" Anakin waited for her response, but all they heard was static. "Mara, are you still there?"

"Yes…I'm here." She paused. "Why do you need my passcode, Anakin? Can't you just use Vader's?"

"I tried that…but the Emperor changed the archive computer's security protocol just before he was killed, so we now need to two high-ranking Imperial passcodes to access the files."

"Oh…I didn't know that." Mara answered with confusion. "Ok…anything to help. When do you need me to come there?"

Anakin looked back at his family and leaned on the counsel with both hands. "Now, if you can?"

"NOW! Why now?" Mara responded.

"I know it's rather short notice, but time is of the essence. The future of the galaxy depends on it." Anakin said with a concerned look on his face.

Mara sighed. "I'll be there within a half hour. Mara out."

Anakin turned off the comm link and turned to his family. "I guess I wasn't the only one that didn't know about this change." He stood in thought for a moment, putting his right hand up to his chin. "You know…this is probably why the New Republic didn't contact me when they couldn't access the files. They, too, found out they would need two high-ranking Imperial passcodes; and probably didn't know where to find someone high enough in the Imperial ranks that would be willing to help them."

"That makes sense, Father." Luke said to him. "And, at the time, they didn't know that Mara Jade was the 'Emperor's Hand'".

"True." Anakin replied with a smile.

---------------------------------------------

_The Wild Karrde - Couresant_

Mara Jade turned off her comm link. She was wearing a dark green tunic, and pulled her red hair back into a ponytail. She quickly looked at herself in the mirror to make sure her hair looked alright before leaving her sleeping quarters on the Wild Karrde. She couldn't believe that the Skywalker family had accepted her so whole-heartedly after what she almost did at Mt. Tantiss. Almost three years ago, she almost killed both Anakin and Luke Skywalker. But, of course, Anakin had been Darth Vader, so if anyone understood the power of forgiveness it was him.

Since that dreadful time on Wayland, thankfully, she hadn't heard that evil voice in her head that almost drove her to madness. Thinking back…She knew it had to be Palpatine trying, through her, to exact his revenge on the Skywalkers for his death and the fall of the Empire. She just hoped that the voice didn't come back to haunt her now that she was going to be around the Skywalkers again.

Mara was also relieved that the Empire seemed to have disappeared off the face of the galaxy for the most part. Of course, there were occassional raids and attacks on different planets or on space freighters like the Wild Karrde. But they were more like little squirmishs and nothing that showed the Empire to be a huge threat in the galaxy again. _And I hope it stays that way._

Her comm call with Anakin Skywalker left her puzzled and curious. She wanted to know what was so important in the Imperial archives…that they would need the information tonight. _Although, he did say the the future of the galaxy depended on it, so it must be urgent. But what?_

Mara went over to the door of her quarters, turned off the light and then headed for the docking bay of the ship. She climbed into her speeder and headed for the Imperial Palace as fast as she could.

When she arrived, Anakin was waiting for her at the front door; and he smiled at her when she approached him. Even though he wasn't Vader anymore, he still had an imposing presense because of his sheer height. "Mara, glad you were able to make it here so quickly." He said as he held out his right hand to shake her hand.

Mara placed her hand in his and they shook hands. "Glad to be of some help. It's the least I can do after all the trouble I caused you and your family."

Anakin smiled at her. "It's all forgotten."

"Now what is so important that you need to access these files tonight?" She asked him as they walked down through the halls of the palace towards the archive room.

"Before Palpatine died, he was working on time travel experiements." He paused and turned to look at her. "Well…Thrawn has found the device the Emperor was working on and we believe he's going to use it to go back in time and change history in favor of the Empire."

Mara looked at him in awe. "How do you know this? And why didn't I know about this device?"

"I don't know why. But the only reason I know about it is because of the report I read on it." Anakin answered her. "As for how do I know what Thrawn is up to…well…through the Force, of course, and…well…we've had some unexpected visitors arrive from the past."

Mara looked at him like she didn't quite believe him. "Visitor's from the past?" She said as they arrived in front of the door to the archive room.

Anakin punched in his passcode and the door opened. They stepped through and immediately Mara notice there were two Lukes. Awestruck, she turned to Anakin. "Ok…I believe you."

"Hello, Mara." Luke said as Luke (past) looked on with puzzlement because he had never met Mara, at least not yet.

Anakin just smiled and walked over to the computer counsel. He looked back at Mara who was still staring at his son and double. "It's a long story, Mara. Mara?" He said when he didn't get her attention. "Mara!"

Mara took her gaze off of the Lukes and looked at Anakin as though she was startled. "Yes. I'm sorry. This is just so amazing." She said as with a smile as Anakin watched her with interest. After recovering from the initial shock, she snapped her attention back to the task at hand. "What do you need me to do?" She asked Anakin.

Anakin pointed to another computer counsel and Mara walked over to it.

"Thank you for doing this, Mara." Padme told her with a smile.

Mara smiled back at Padme. "I'm happy to."

"Now, when I say three, we need to start entering our Imperial passcodes at the same time." Anakin said as he looked at Mara. She was positioning her hands on the keyboard and looked over to Anakin who was doing the same. She waited for his signal.

"Ok…one…two…three." Anakin said and they both busily typed in their passcodes. The computer beeped and a message appeared on the screen. 'Welcome to the Imperial Archive Database.' Anakin and Mara smiled at each other. "We're in. Thank you, Mara."

"You're welcome."

Once they were in, everyone went over to their own computer terminals and started looking through the files for anything that could help them figure out how to work the device and maybe where it's located. Although, all they were able to find was technical readouts and nothing that would really help them determine how to operate it. _Which is why it's probably taking Thrawn so long to figure it out._ Anakin thought to himself.

Then after a few hours, they heard an excited yelp from Padme. "Anakin, I think I found something!" She said as she turned to him with a huge smile on her face.

"What did you find?" Anakin asked as he quickly walked over to stand behind his wife to view her screen. Although, when he got there, there wasn't anything relating to the time travel device…but instead there was a picture of Anakin from before the Clone Wars with a profile attached. "Padme!"

She laughed at her husband and turned to look up at him with a devious smile. "Well, I thought it was quite a find."

Anakin laughed and bent down and kissed his wife. "And so are you." He said as he stood back up to his full height and crossed his arms in front of him. "Cute. But I thought you'd actually found something important."

"I did." She said told him. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, the whole time laughing. He started back towards to his counsel, but hen Padme became more serious. "No, really, I DID find something."

Anakin looked back over to her. "What do you mean?" He said as he walked back over to stand behind her, putting his right hand on the back of her chair and the other one on the counsel. This time it was a picture of the device and some information on how it was actually suppose to work. "Why didn't you show me this before?"

"I just wanted to take the opportunity to tease my husband." She said with a giggle.

He laughed and reached over to kissed her again, putting his arms around her. "Oh did you now. I didn't know that was allowed." He then became serious and moved to sit in the chair next to her and started reading what was on the screen.

The others all came over and gathered around the screen. "What's it say?" Han asked.

"It says, we're in a whole lot of trouble if we don't find that machine before Thrawn gets ahold of this information. And if we can find it, he may be able to also."

"Anakin, maybe we should save it all on a disk and delete it from the archives." Mara suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea." Anakin replied as he grabbed a disk from a drawer and started saving all the information, techical readouts and all. Then with Mara's help, because they needed both their passcodes again to delete the files, he deleted everything that had to do with it.

He started to get up and go towards the door with the disk, when Padme stopped him. "Wait a minute. Shouldn't we set this up so the New Republic can access these files. I found extensive files on the Old Republic, in addition to the Empire, that tne New Republic could use."

Anakin sighed. "You're right." So, for now, because time was of the essence, Mara and he set up passcodes for Padme and Leia, so they could at least get into the archives. They decided having two people was probably a good idea and left it that security protocol in place.

Before leaving, they explained everything to Mara and she expressed an interest in helping them any way she could. When they said they still didn't know where the device could be or where the Empire is, for that matter, she said she would call all her's and Karrde's contacts to see if anyone has any idea where they could be hiding.

They all headed back out to their prospective speeders, everyone going their separate ways. Han went home to Leia, the visitors to their Falcon, Luke to the Jedi Temple, Mara back to the Wilde Karrde, and Anakin and Padme back to their apartment.

They decided it was late and would deal with this more in the morning.

------------------------------------------

_Anakin and Padme's Apartment_

When Anakin and Padme arrived back at their home. They were relieved that Shmi was still asleep and headed back to their bedroom to get ready for bed.

When Padme came out of the refresher wearing a silky blue nightgown, Anakin was already in bed, lying on his side, and appeared to be asleep. She looked over at her husband and sighed at how peaceful and handsome he looked. He still liked to sleep in only his pajama bottoms, so his bare chest was exposed from underneath the covers, with one bare arm under his head and the other draped over his stomach.

She continued to brush out her long brown hair, watching him breath and thinking how lucky she was to have him back. And to have their family together. Even after 5 years, she still marveled at the miracle of it all, considering what happened to all of them when the Old Republic fell 28 years ago.

It was a dream come true after what happened between them on Mustafar. She didn't recognize him then…She had lost him to hate and jealousy…to the Dark Side. And, yet, she still is afraid that one day she will wake up to discover that it was just a dream and that the man she loves never came back from the darkness to be with her.

When she was done brushing her hair, she placed the brush on the vanity and then went to climb into bed. She pulled the covers up over her and reached up to turn the light off, hoping and praying that perhaps Shmi will finally sleep through the entire night. She laid back down and tried to get comfortable, when to her delightful surprised, she felt the mattress move and Anakin's arms came around her in the dark. He started to kiss her neck, making her giggle and enjoy his touch.

"I thought you were asleep?" She asked him, continuing to enjoy his kisses on the bare skin of her neck.

"I was until you distracted me from my dreams." He said as he continued to kiss her, moving now up to her lips. She was now passionately kissing him back when…

"WAAAAAH!"

"Uggggghhhhh!" Anakin groaned. He then pulled away from their embrace and rolled over to turn on the light. "I'll go." He said as he pulled the covers off of him and swung his feet out of the bed and onto the floor.

"Are you sure?" Padme asked him, now sitting up and holding her knees to her chest. "I think it's my turn."

Anakin brushed his hands through his hair and then got up off the bed. "It's ok. I can go." He said as he turned to her and smiled. "You know…I don't remember Ben being so needy." Anakin said as he started towards the door.

"And what exactly are you implying by that?" Padme teased him as they continued to hear Shmi's wail from the other room.

"Oh, nothing." He smirked. "I'll be back as soon as I can." And then he left their bedroom for the baby's room.

Padme laid in their bed staring at the ceiling. It had been over an hour since Anakin left to go to the baby's room and Shmi had stopped crying in half that time.

Kicking the covers off of her, she swung her feet around and got up, putting her robe on and proceeded out the door to the babies room. When she arrived there, she saw Anakin sitting in the rocking chair with Shmi in his arms, feeding her a bottle; but Shmi was hardly sucking on it as she fought to stay awake.

"Are you coming back to bed soon?" Padme whispered to him as she crossed the room to stand next to her husband, placing her right hand on his bare shoulder.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Soon…I think she may be done." Shmi had entirely stopped sucking on the almost empty bottle and was back to sleep. Anakin slowly took the bottle out of her mouth and placed it on the table next to him. He then carefully got up and carried his baby daughter over to the crib and gently place her in it.

Padme came up behind him and put her arms around his waist. He did the same to her as they continued to smile down at their sleeping child. _Yes. She was the luckiest woman in the galaxy. If only the rest of our lives were this simple._


End file.
